Hats off to the London Fire Brigade: Praise for heroic firefighters who dashed into burning Grenfell Tower to save lives

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Eleanor Rose15 June 2017

Grateful Londoners have cheered firefighters in the street for their "selfless" work to save men, women and children trapped as flames ripped through Grenfell Tower.

Residents were seen screaming, waving and even throwing babies from upper-floor windows as the blaze tore through a 24-storey tower block in Notting Hill in the early hours of Wednesday.

Emergency services scrambled to the scene in a race to save lives shortly before 1am.

Onlookers were seen applauding firefighters in the streets as they came off shift, while cafes threw open their doors to offer free refreshments to the workers left shattered by a 10-hour battle against the blaze.

Witnesses took to social media to empathise with "heroic" first responders who arrived at the scene six minutes after the fire was reported and were later seen looking shaken.

Kindness: A woman serves tea to shattered firefighters
Evening Standard / eyevine

"Firemen and women looking bleak and silent as they come off duty, they smell very strongly of thick toxic smoke," an onlooker wrote on Twitter.

"I feel for the firemen and women, they have to go through each flat/room to see if there are any dead. I just can't imagine it," wrote another.

Heroic: Grim-faced firemen attending the Grenfell Tower fire 
Alex Lentati

"Thank you for your selfless work," wrote one man touched by the scenes.

Another wrote: "Thoughts with Grenfell Tower. So sad to see these innocent lives taken. To the families, firemen and rescuers; you are brave and heroic."

The praise came as an expert said the conflagration faced by the grim-faced firefighters was completely unprecedented in the UK.

David Sibert, Fire Brigade Union fire safety expert, said: "What's happened in this fire today is like nothing that anyone in this country has seen ever.

"It's too early to say or speculate but it certainly appears as though the fire has spread up the outside of the building, much more quickly than it should have done, something has gone wrong," he said.

Hard morning's work: Ambulances at the scene as paramedics rushed to help
Evening Standard / eyevine

Forty fire engines and more than 200 firefighters and officers were called to the scene shortly before 1am.

Grenfell Tower contains 120 flats, and is home to between 400 and 600 people according to local councillor Judith Baker.

Police, who have also been praised for their part responding to the tragedy, have confirmed 12 fatalities and expect the figure to rise.

Helping hand: A policeman gently guides a shocked onlooker
Evening Standard / eyevine

London Fire Brigade (LFB) received multiple calls to the fire which affected all floors of the 24-storey building, from the second floor up.

A cordon was put in place around the building and around 30 adjacent flats to the tower block were evacuated by the police. People were advised to avoid the area.

A firefighter wipes away a tear (Evening Standard / eyevine)
Alex Lentati

A spokesman for LFB said: "The Brigade was called at 0054 and crews are still at the scene working tirelessly to bring the fire under control and to carry out systematic searches of the tower block.

"Fire crews from North Kensington, Kensington, Hammersmith, Paddington and surrounding fire stations are in attendance.

"Our specialist urban search and rescue crews and a structural engineer have checked the building and said that it is not in danger of collapsing and that it is safe for our crews to be in there.

"Thankfully any reported injuries to firefighters have been minor and they have been treated at the scene by London Ambulance Service crews."

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