UK Firefighter Details Blaze That Killed Two Colleagues

June 24, 2012
Firefighter Liam Ryan told Southampton Coroner's Court he "lost his mind" as extreme heat engulfed a home on April 6, 2010 in which fellow firefighters Alan Bannon and Jim Shears died.

A firefighter badly hurt in a terror blaze in high-rise flat that killed two colleagues has described the "bedlam" inside the building.

Liam Ryan told Southampton Coroner's Court he "lost his mind" as extreme heat engulfed the home in Shirley Towers.

He was one of four firefighters sent inside flat 72 to find and tackle the blaze on April 6, 2010.

Mr Ryan had to be rescued from the burning flat by Redbridge Hill fire station colleague Keith Holland after temperatures suddenly rose massively.

St Mary's Red Watch crew members Alan Bannon and Jim Shears of Poole, who had followed behind the other two firefighters, were overcome by the extreme heat and lost their lives.

Despite having regularly visited relatives who lived in the tower block, Mr Ryan said the high temperatures and thick smoke had left him so disorientated he had no idea how to get out of the flat, saying he had essentially "lost his mind" as he tried to protect his badly burned hands.

Giving evidence at Mr Bannon and Mr Shears' inquest yesterday, Mr Ryan said the trouble started after he and Mr Holland had checked the upstairs bedrooms.

He said: "We were just basically telling them to go down and that's when it all went wrong. I was on the landing when it first happened. Then I knew we had to get out.

"Alan and Jim were obviously before us. We were just shouting 'get out, get out'."

The court heard the stairwell swiftly became "a corridor of heat".

Mr Ryan said: "I had been on hot jobs before, but the rapid escalation in heat that we had that night, I've never had that."

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