The Grenfell Tower Inquiry Podcast

Two firefighters who played a vital part in passing on information about trapped residents give evidence. Watch Manager Paul Sadler organised information on a car bonnet before it was taken inside Grenfell Tower to Watch Manager Louisa de Silvo. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

A man carrying an axe and claiming to be an American firefighter is told to leave. Plus, how firefighters improvised a system to pass on information about trapped residents by yelling up two flights of stairs. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Firefighters Martin Gillam and Dean Roberts describe how they were sent to the roof to drench the fire from above. They didn’t get that far. Instead they rescued a woman, carrying her down at least 17 flights of stairs. Firefighter Stephen O’Donoghue was sent to rescue two people in flat 95 on the 12th floor but ran into a family on the 11th floor. He carried one of them out of the building. Conta...

Firefighter Richard Hippel and Crew Manager Jamal Stern recall their attempt to rescue a bedridden man on the 16th floor. Plus, firefighter Harry Bettinson explains how he stayed with a family trapped on the ninth floor before bringing them to safety. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Control room officer, Sarah Russell, recalls how she stayed on the phone with 12-year-old Jessica Urbano Ramirez, who was trapped on the 23rd floor, until the line fell silent. Plus, firefighter Raymond Keane tells the inquiry that spraying water onto the side of the building made almost no difference. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The highest ranked officer in the 999 control room – Deputy Assistant Commissioner Adrian Fenton – recalls how TV images of the fire influenced the decision to change the stay-put advice to residents. Plus, a solicitor who represented the family of three people who died in the Lakanal House tower block fire in 2009, tells us the Government could have done more to prevent Grenfell. Contact us via e...

Station Manager Jason Oliff told the inquiry he spent four hours dealing with information from phone calls of residents trapped in the tower. He faced the “impossible” decision to tell a father to go back up the smoke filled staircase to find his family, despite fears he would die. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Senior Operations Manager, Joanne Smith, changes the stay put advice to residents trapped in the tower. She explains to the inquiry why she did this. We hear evidence of 999 calls made by residents trapped on the upper floors of Grenfell. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Senior Operations Manager Joanne Smith gives the inquiry its first insight into the 999 control room. 344 calls were made to 999 on the night of the fire, many from residents unable to leave their flats because of fire heat or smoke. Joanne Smith tells the inquiry what guidance was given to residents who called the emergency services. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Watch Manager Daniel Meyrick explains his role as a command support officer. He coordinated information from the 999 control room to firefighters in the tower. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Watch Manager Brien O’Keeffe describes the moment 999 calls stopped coming from inside Grenfell Tower. Firefighter Christopher Dorgu talks about how he helped carry casualties outside, and he names the piece of equipment which he thinks could have saved lives on the night of the disaster. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Watch Manager Brien O’Keeffe gives evidence to the inquiry. He describes how firefighters ran out of equipment. Some used their breathing apparatus to help rescue residents trapped in the smoke-filled stairwell in the tower. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Crew Manager Christopher Secrett and Watch Manager Brien O’Keeffe give evidence to the inquiry. Christopher Secrett runs low on air while attempting a rescue on the twentieth floor. He thinks he won’t make it out alive. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Fire Safety Officer Daniel Egan, Crew Manager Christopher Secrett and Firefighter John O’Hanlon give evidence to the inquiry. Daniel Egan speaks to a mother trapped in the tower with her two children. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Firefighter Justin O’Beirne and Senior Fire Safety Officer Daniel Egan give evidence to the inquiry. Justin O’Beirne tells the inquiry about an attempted rescue of a bedbound man on the 16th floor. Daniel Egan explained how he dealt with information from 999 calls made by residents in the tower. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Firefighters Justin O’Beirne and Thomas Abell give evidence to the inquiry. Both had problems communicating on the night with other firefighters and the officers in command. A resident tried to escape by tying bedsheets together. Thomas Abell dissuaded him. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Firefighters Daniel Brown and David Badillo give evidence to the inquiry. They highlight communication problems during the night of the fire. We also hear one of the first accounts of a rescue attempt, when David Badillo climbed twelve flights of stairs to try and help a girl down from the twentieth floor. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The first firefighters who tackled the fire in flat 16 give evidence. Charles Batterbee tells the inquiry how he held on to Daniel Brown for dear life as he leaned out of the window trying to put out the fire as it spreads up the building. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The first firefighter to take charge at Grenfell continues his evidence. Michael Dowden said he did the best job he could as a firefighter on the night. Also, we hear from Fatima Alves who lived at Grenfell and let the first firefighters into the tower. She tells us how she and her family are coping a year on from the fire. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The first firefighter to take charge at Grenfell continues his evidence. Michael Dowden broke down in tears as footage of the burning block was shown to the inquiry. Also, we hear from Fatima Alves who lived at Grenfell and let the first firefighters into the tower. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The first firefighter to take charge at Grenfell gives his evidence. Michael Dowden told the inquiry he had no training on how to evacuate people from a high-rise block. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Flat 16: the inquiry hears evidence from the residents of the flat where the fire started. It’s also the start of evidence from firefighters. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The inquiry hears evidence about how the fire spread from where it started in flat 16. Expert witness, Professor Luke Bisby of Edinburgh University, said the fire was unlike any other which has happened abroad because it spread in all directions. Contact us via email: grenfellpodcast@bbc.co.uk

The inquiry sees footage of the moment when firefighters entered flat 16 on the fourth floor where the fire started. Professor Niamh Nic Daeid of Dundee University presents her report into how and where the fire started

The failure of fire safety measures at Grenfell Tower. The inquiry hears from fire safety engineer, Barbara Lane. She sets out how said the building's fire lift and doors did not comply with building regulations and details the combustible materials used around the refurbished window fittings and external cladding which allowed the fire to spread.