Distraught firefighter forced to make impossible choice in Grenfell Tower

A firefighter has described the moment he was made to make a harrowing decision while he was on the 20th floor of Grenfell Tower.

The anonymous hero was inside the burning tower block in Kensington, London, scouring each floor for people who needed rescuing.

When he reached the “19th or 20th floor”, he discovered a couple who were struggling to breathe through the thick smoke.

However, he was faced with the agonising choice of rescuing them – or go upstairs to the “five people” who also needed saving on the floor above.

Describing the tragic story on the ‘Save the UK Fire Service’ Facebook page, the firefighter went into detail on the true horrors of the fire, which has so far claimed the lives of 79 people.

He wrote: “Around the 9th 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 19/20th 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.

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“A quick gauge check showed us that the amount of floors we’d climbed had taken its toll, we were getting low on air. There’s no way we could make it to the 23rd and back to the bridgehead.

“The couple were shouting and screaming at us through the coughing, trying to tell us there were five more people on the floor above.

“Now I had horrible decisions to make and a very short amount of time to make them.”

The firefighter went on to say how he decided to save the couple in front of him and radio for help for those trapped above.

His lengthy post was viewed thousands of time, with people commenting on how it made them cry reading the details.

The full post can be viewed here.

Top pic: Rex