Grenfell Inquiry: London fire chief in tears over tower footage

Michael Dowden Image copyright Grenfell Inquiry
Image caption Michael Dowden left the room after the video was played

The firefighter who led the initial response to the Grenfell fire was in tears after being shown footage of the disaster at a public inquiry.

The video shows people shouting to residents to "get out of the tower" as the blaze spreads.

After seeing the footage, Michael Dowden asked for a 10-minute break and wiped tears from his eyes as he left the room.

He also said "sensory overload" from the fire had affected his memory.

Mr Dowden was the watch manager of North Kensington red watch who first responded to the blaze on 14 June 2017 and was "in charge of the incident" for about an hour.

Seventy-two people were killed in the fire.

Giving evidence for a second day at the inquiry, he said he initially believed the fire was contained in flat 16 on the tower's fourth floor.

But he began to feel "uncomfortable" because "the fire was behaving in a way I'd not seen it behave before".

He said it was like a magnesium fire, "sparking and spitting", adding: "That's not something I've seen before."

Counsel for the inquiry Richard Millett asked Mr Dowden why, in his official statement about the fire, after saying he saw burning materials to the floor he said he still did not believe the fire "had taken hold".

Mr Dowden, who has been with fire brigade for 14 years, said when writing his statement he had a "sensory overload" from "everything I had to deal with, everything I saw, the decisions I made".

Mr Millett asked whether, when realising the fire was spreading across the exterior, he considered an "evacuation".

He said: "At that moment in time, things are rapidly developing and it is a very, very dynamic situation. I wasn't aware what was happening internally in the building.

"I have never seen anything like that but it was almost like I was consumed by that because of the sensory overload."

The inquiry has heard the blaze was spread by the building's exterior cladding which Mr Dowden said he did not see when he arrived at the scene.

On Monday he told the inquiry he was not trained to decide when to abandon the policy of "stay put" and evacuate a burning tower instead.