Grenfell firefighter recounts being unable to tell a woman she was going to die

[smurfy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45051254

Christopher Batcheldor was on the phone to Zainab Deen, who was trapped on the 14th floor with her two-year-old son.
Midway through the call he learnt crews could not get past the 12th floor.
"I basically lied to her and continued to tell her that we were coming for her," he told the Grenfell inquiry.
He broke down on Thursday as he recalled the phone call, which lasted over an hour.

[Freezorg]

Well that's just a terribly fucked up situation for absolutely everyone involved

[milk47]

Just makes me want to hug my family. and reaffirms how I have no idea what real suffering is like. god, this existence can be so fucked up.

[BryBreadmin]

After five to 10 minutes of quiet he heard "ear-splitting screams" before silence.

Oh yowch. Usually in fires people die of smoke inhalation before the flames even get to them. Doesn't seem like that was the case this time.

[ThePanther]

That's awful. If I ever end up living in a tall building, I'm gonna make sure the fire escape is ready to go all the time, holy shit.

[Seth2492]

Reminds me of the phone calls that emergency response teams got from people stranded in the world trade center. The poor operators had absolutely no idea what was going on, the firemen were absolutely overwhelmed at the idea of getting equipment up a hundred stories and as quickly as possible.

I have no idea how people can do that, but they're fucking heroes.

[WishesForFishes]

Talking to someone who you know is going to die is such a deeply unsettling experience that will leave its mark on you forever.
My heart goes out to this man.

[Fate]

You can't really have an outside fire escape in this sort of block.
That's why building regs are designed for fires to not spread in the first place, and why people are advised to stay in their flats.

Unfortunately cheap construction + poor inspections didn't pick up on the flammable cladding (which wouldn't meet safety regs).

[chipsnapper]

There was also a call that cuts off DURING the collapse. Larry Cosgrove was calling CNN and you hear crashing and yelling before the line cuts as the South Tower collapsed live.

[Seth2492]

Oh yeah, I'll never forget that clip. Very few things can disturb me after all the "fun" things I've seen as a teen, but that video is something I'd love to forget.

[Genkaz]

I find it absolutely horrific that they could not do anything in this situation, maybe some advances in firefighting technology will become available in the future that prevents cases like this somehow.

[wewt!]

That call was so fucked up. It really put into perspective that those two rectangles I've only ever seen on TV were full of people.