THE HEAT IS ON

London’s firefighters need to be fit both physically and psychologically. Dominic Bliss visits one of the capital's busiest fire stations as new recruits are put through rigorous training

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Weighed down, carrying 30kgs-plus of equipment, not including our fire kit and breathing apparatus, we made our way up a crowded stairwell, struggling to make progress. The smoke grew thicker with each floor we went up. Around the ninth floor we lost all visibility and the heat was rising. Still we continued up and up through the blackness. We reached what we believed to be the 19th or 20th floor but there was no way to tell. It was here where we found a couple trying to find their way out, panicking, choking, blinded by the thick toxic air.”

This is from an anonymous account on Facebook by one of the many brave firefighters who risked their lives at the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. A member of London Fire Brigade who preferred to remain anonymous, they explained in graphic detail the physical and psychological pressures of that ill-fated rescue. “A quick gauge check showed us the amount of floors we'd climbed had taken its toll; we were getting low on air,” they continued. “The couple were shouting and screaming to us between choking coughs, trying to tell us there were five more people on the floor above. I had horrible decisions to make and a very short amount of time to make them.

“Would we have enough air to leave this couple and to reach the next floor? If we went up another floor, would we actually find the five? Did we have enough air to make it back down to safety ourselves from where we were? Could I live with the thought that saving two lives is better than taking the risk to go up and potentially save no one?”

Testing times