Greater Manchester's Chief Fire Officer has apologised for the 'wholly inadequate and totally ineffective' response of the service on the night of the Arena bombing.
Greater Manchester's Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) has repeatedly apologised after its firefighters took more than two hours to arrive at the scene of the 2017 blast, blaming 'silence' from Greater Manchester Police (GMP). Frustrated firefighters were kept away from the scene due to their bosses' fears of a continuing terror attack even though police and paramedics rushed towards danger.
Firefighters based at Thompson Street fire station in central Manchester, close to the Arena, were even ordered to rendezvous further away, at Phillips's Park fire station, passing ambulances heading in the opposite direction.
