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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Dave Badillo

I was the first firefighter into Grenfell Tower. Little has changed, and it could happen again

The memorial wall for the 72 people who died in the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
The memorial wall for the 72 people who died in the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. Photograph: Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock

Five years ago today we got the call to the fire that changed my life.

As we raced out of North Kensington fire station, we did not know the scale of the fire, and far less how big it would become. We were going towards a part of my neighbourhood that I knew well, and I desperately hoped that the people in that building would not be harmed. I was the first firefighter into Grenfell Tower. I witnessed the true horrors of that night and I continue to see them in my nightmares.

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