JURORS have seen dramatic images of the high-rise blaze that killed two firemen suddenly escalating, more than half an hour after it started.
CCTV footage from the street outside Shirley Towers in Southampton showed flames inside Flat 72 develop rapidly, after two teams of firefighters had entered the home.
The images were used by investigators to help piece together what happened on the night of April 6, 2010, when Alan Bannon, 38, from Bitterne and Jim Shears, 35, from Poole died after being overcome by ‘excessive heat’ on the upper levels of the flat.
Independent investigator Richard Hunt, from the London Fire Brigade, said the footage showed the lounge window being destroyed at 8.41pm. He gave evidence of firefighting inside the flat as steam escaped from it.
Southampton Coroner’s Court has heard fire teams used pulsing bursts of water to contain the blaze, fearing more would create scalding-hot steam that could endanger colleagues above them in the flat.
The inquest continues.
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