Manchester Arena Inquiry: Fire response 'wholly unacceptable'

The delay in getting firefighters to the scene of the Manchester Arena attack was "wholly unacceptable," an inquiry into the bombing has heard.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) area manager Ben Levy agreed the response to the bombing was "neither adequate nor effective".

The Manchester Arena Inquiry has heard firefighters arrived on scene more than two hours after the attack.

Senior officers have said crews were held back because safety fears.

Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds more injured when Salman Abedi detonated a homemade device in the arena's foyer on 22 May 2017.

The inquiry has previously heard firefighters did not go into the foyer for more than two hours because of a lack of information from the police and fears there was an active shooter on the loose.

Hearing evidence from Mr Levy and fellow area manager Carlos Meakin, the inquiry was told there was no-one was in overall command of the service's response to the attack for the first 90 minutes after it happened.

Mr Meakin accepted that he could have stepped up to take responsibility, but he denied being "passive" on the night of the attack.

"I think we should have had an incident commander nominated, but I still believe that in the absence of information, I'm not 100% sure it would have changed the decisions on the night," he said, adding: "Potentially, it could have."

Minutes after the explosion, firefighters based at Manchester Central fire station, just a mile from the arena were moved to a muster point at Philips Park in east Manchester, three miles from the venue.

Mr Levy later told the inquiry he decided to take command of the incident when he arrived at the muster point.

When asked why he thought crews had not already mobilised to the arena before he arrived, he said the "only rational explanation... was that we were not required to attend because of the extent, the risks the police were dealing with".

He agreed the response was "neither adequate nor effective" and said the delay in getting firefighters to the scene was "wholly unacceptable".

The inquiry continues.

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