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Hello and welcome to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry podcast with me, Kate Lamble.

This week, the inquiry started hearing evidence about a brand new topic,

examining the management of the London Fire Brigade

and how it prepared its staff ahead of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The inquiry has already heard from 82 firefighters who attended the incident on the 14th of June 2017.

The podcast covered that evidence in episodes 21 to 67.

And during that time, we learnt that as well as London Fire Brigade staff queuing to enter the burning building

in an attempt to rescue people, there were problems.

Communication equipment failed, water pumps could only reach the lower floors, and almost

no one present in the early stages was able to recognise the situation in front of them as a

cladding fire. That's what's raised these questions, about just how prepared the LFB should have

been for an incident such

as the fire at Grenfell Tower. During her evidence back in 2018, the then-commissioner of the

London Fire Brigade, Danny Cotton, was clear. The LFB learned from every operation they carry out.

But in the same manner that I wouldn't develop a training package for a space shuttle to land on the

shard. So I wouldn't expect us to be developing training or response to something that simply

shouldn't happen. Whether Grenfell really was as unpredictable for the LFB as a space shuttle landing

on the shard is essentially what this section of evidence is examining. And this week, we learnt the government failed to act

when the LFB asked them to send out a warning about the risks of cladding

more than seven years before the fire.

And IT problems meant the London Fire Brigade didn't roll out training,

...