Grenfell firefighter calls for lessons to be learned

A Kent-based former firefighter who attended the Grenfell Tower blaze has said “lessons need to be learned now".

Aldo Diana, from Edenbridge, served as a London firefighter for over 30 years and helped save lives in the fire in June 2017.

Speaking to BBC Radio Kent, Mr Diana said: “I’ve been to many fires over my time, but nothing as alarming as this."

Mr Diana said the fire had “taken its toll” on his mental health and left him wondering “what he could have done better”.

On Wednesday, the six-year public inquiry's damning final report blamed the disaster on "dishonest" companies and a chain of failures by governments.

A cladding manufacturer “deliberately concealed” fire risks, while coalition and Conservative governments “ignored, delayed or disregarded” concerns, the report found.

It also said the local council had shown a “persistent indifference” to fire safety and the needs of vulnerable residents.

The London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe said the fire service was "not complacent" and would “continue to act on the inquiry's findings".

Recalling the night of 14 June 2017, Mr Diana said it was a "normal shift to start off with” but said the scale of the fire soon dawned on him and his colleagues.

“It wasn’t until we got closer to the tower block you realised what a disaster it would be," he added.

Mr Diana rescued nine people on the night, carrying one person down 13 floors.

Speaking of his hopes for the future, he said: “We need to learn, there are still people living in blocks that are unsafe.

"We need to learn the lessons now, not in six months' time.”

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