The direction of the wind is the key to the assault on the fires. ibid.
Every fire has its own personality and requires its own approach. ibid.
You’re trusting your life to the men around you. ibid.
It’s the first brigade. They want to know if they can come round Thursday evening. Monty Python’s Flying Circus s3e5: The All-England Summarize Proust Competition, BBC 1972
Fire is space-crew enemy number one. The Universe s3e1: Space Disasters, History 2008
The risk of fire is ever present. Its consequences can be devastating. But help has long been just a phone call away. The story of the British fire service is one of two hundred years on the front line. Firefighters have come to our rescue in Britain’s darkest hours. They have continually striven to find more effective ways to fight the flames. And they’ve submitted themselves to the most demanding discipline and training. Timeshift: Blazes and Brigades: The Story of the Fire Service, BBC 2017
The Westminster fire was now the biggest conflagration Londoners had seen since 1666 … Both houses of parliament had been lost but Westminster hall had been saved. ibid.
Glass fire extinguisher grenades … ‘It was a pretty gullible public that took to these things.’ ibid.
Professional equipment was also highly variable. At the turn of the twentieth century there were 1,600 local fire brigades in Britain. ibid.
Fitted with a 5.7 litre Rolls-Royce engine the Dennis F7 could do a top speed of sixty miles an hour … The workhorse of the British fire service. ibid.
The heroism of fireman like Fred Sadd was an inspiration to a whole generation of children. ibid.
1976: another natural disaster. The summer of ’76 was the hottest since records began … Fire brigades were under extreme pressure. ibid.
Mary Joy Langdon was quickly enlisted as Britain’s first female firefighter. ibid.
Throughout 1977 there was growing dissatisfaction with the Labour government’s proposals to reduce firemen’s wages … The first ever national firefighters’ strike. ibid.
Following the King’s Cross tragedy the equipment issued to firefighters nationwide was overhauled. ibid.
Officially renamed the Fire and Rescue Service. ibid.
At least seventeen dead and dozens missing – tonight, a special programme of the Grenfell tower block disaster. Tonight: The Tower Block Disaster, ITV 2017
The fire climbed up the building in minutes. ibid.
On 14th June last year a tragedy took place here in West London which devastated a community and shocked a nation. 71 people died when fire engulfed Grenfell Tower; hundreds more lost their homes and all they owned. Tonight: The Tower: A Year On, ITV 2018
A fire starts in Flat 16 on the 4th floor of Grenfell Tower – a fridge-freezer bursting into flames. ibid.
She was the largest ship ever built. And yet her maiden voyage would be her last. After RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, 1,500 men, women and children drowned sending shockwaves around the globe starting a debate that still rages today. Why did she steam at full speed into an ice-field? Why did a supposedly unsinkable ship sink so suddenly? Titanic: The New Evidence, More4 2017
‘I spotted what I thought was a very strange mark on Titanic’s hull and it’s just there [points to photograph] … The next photograph following on from there shows the same diagonal black mark …’ ibid.
The mysterious mark over thirty feet long … ‘We appear to have a weakness or damage to the hull.’ ibid.
The ship suffered a fire: the first took hold in a coalbunker in boiler room six, and the room is directly behind the place where the dark mark begins. The fire was mentioned in the official enquiry in 1912. ibid.
The bulkhead had been severely damaged by the fire. A warped bulkhead should have raised serious concerns. ibid.
The red-head bulkhead had caused the fire to spread. ibid.
Reuters: Noting that 81 people had just died in a factory fire in China where they had been locked in to keep them at work. Noam Chomsky, Clinton’s Vision, lecture Washington 1 December 1993
Last month London suffered its most devastating fire since the Blitz. These are the London firefighters who ran into the Grenfell Tower risking their lives to try to save hundreds of people. This is the first time they have told their story. Inside London Fire Brigade I, ITV 2017
The very structure of the building became unsafe. ibid.
In the days following the tragedy, the fire service and the police started the painstaking process of recovering the bodies of the victims. ibid.
‘It messed me up a little bit.’ ibid. firefighter
In the last year the London Fire Brigade has been tested like never before. Helping the victims of a spate of terror attacks. And then at Grenfell – the UK’s most devastating fire since the Second World War. Inside London Fire Brigade II
North Circular Road: His crew have been waiting for two hours for an ambulance. ibid.
In the last few years the London Fire Brigade has had its budget cut by £45 million. ibid.
The teams cover 12-hour shifts. ibid.
30% of call-outs the fire brigade attends are to non-fire incidents requiring specialist teams. ibid.
When London burns these are the men and women who come to our rescue … In June the London Fire Brigade was confronted with one of the most terrifying fires in living memory. The tragedy of Grenfell served as a shocking reminder of the lethal threat fire poses. Inside London Fire Brigade III
Around 500 fires a week. ibid.
They have a register of people they classify as hoarders … An estimated 1.2 million people in the UK who hoard. ibid.
Last year in the UK almost 30% of fire fatalities came from hoarders’ homes. ibid.
In the last ten years in the UK thirteen firefighters have lost their lives in the line of duty. ibid.
Thousands of people applying for each position. ibid.
‘They underestimate the smoke.’ ibid. fire fatality investigator
‘I was born into a gypsy family. My mum was white, so was her husband. And I came out black. The story I was told was that my mum put me in a caravan and set light to it. I guess she didn’t want me around.’ Annie: Out of the Ashes, BBC 2017
It’s about understanding the culture, characters and events that led to a fire which nearly killed her. ibid.
‘What a waste of life to be sad and angry.’ ibid. Annie
In the 1980s there were an average of 2,000 caravan fires every year across the UK many of which were fatal. ibid.
Finding out her grandmother was in there with her changes everything. ibid.
It was an ordinary night that turned into tragedy. It was every commuter’s worst nightmare. A disaster that killed 31 people and injured many more. Three decades after the deadliest blaze on London’s underground we speak to those caught up in the disaster and those who rescued them. The King’s Cross Fire: 6 Hours that Shocked Britain, Channel 5 2017
30 years ago King’s Cross was the busiest station on the London underground … A small fire was spotted on one of the two old-style wooden escalators. ibid.
Those left in the ticket hall were engulfed in flames. ibid.
The Tower’s name is Grenfell. 14th June 2017: As Grenfell Tower burned it was watched by the world. Relatives across the globe waited for news of loved ones … So many people have vanished without trace. Reggie Yates: Searching for Grenfell’s Lost Lives, BBC 2018
Grenfell Tower is 24 storeys high. Inside are 128 homes. On 14th June 2017 a fire breaks out in Grenfell Tower. What happens over the next 24 hours will change how we view social housing forever. Grenfell Tower: Minute by Minute, captions, Channel 5 2018
‘You can’t imagine how quick it is.’ ibid. resident, re fire spread
There is one staircase in Grenfell Tower: it is quickly filling with black smoke. ibid.
‘You felt the generosity and the warmth of people.’ ibid. resident
‘It was like a goodbye message.’ (House & Fire & Accident & Disaster) ibid. brother, re sister
A public inquiry into the causes of the Grenfell Tower fire has begun. 71 people are confirmed to have died in the Grenfell Tower fire. ibid.