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Coble started his professional fire service career in 1984 at the Fort Worth Fire Department. Other firefighters listening to the call told him he had to be careful or he would be sacked, the inquiry heard.Chief David L. We sent three fire engines and Andy Berry,' said Mr Levy. 'I was clear, I thought it was the wrong decision, but the outcome was the same. Mr Levy said he 'challenged that decision' with Mr O'Reilly at the time but was told he and Specialist Response Team firefighters were to remain at Thompson Street. He agreed with the QC that 'command decisions were being taken out of your hands'. Firefighter boss got lost and took almost an hour to drive into Manchester to deal with the Arena bombing.Fire service bosses accused of 'taking no risks at all to save lives' on the night of the Manchester Arena bombing.As it happened we didn't need much more than that as we were so late.' Read More Related Articles I pictured an explosion scene with post-bomb hazards that would be supported by the fire and rescue service making the scene safe. Mr Levy said: 'It's not enough resources.

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The witness agreed he had been surprised at the decision to send just 12 firefighters and that he had wanted to send specialist crews who have better equipment and training in how to treat blast injuries. Pressed by Paul Greaney QC, counsel to the inquiry, Mr Levy said he would have expected to have been mobilised as the incident commander.

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Mr O'Reilly, the inquiry heard, decided to send three fire engines carrying 12 firefighters plus another less experienced manager, Andy Berry, to the arena, not the commander, Mr Levy.įirefighters push stretchers into Victoria railway station at 00.48 (Image: Manchester Arena Inquiry) Mr Levy assumed command of the incident on behalf of the fire service shortly before midnight.Īs the public inquiry into the atrocity continued today (Thursday), Mr Levy recalled telephone conversations he had that night with the then chief fire officer Peter O'Reilly, who was in the fire service 'command support room'. Specialist crews, with better kit and more training in how to treat blast injuries, were kept back. The 'angry and frustrated' firefighters who had gathered at Philips Park were eventually ordered to head back towards Manchester, but to Manchester Central fire station again rather than the Arena, where crews waited for a further 30 minutes.Ī team of just 12 regular firefighters - the number that would be deployed to a house fire - was dispatched to the arena, arriving at the scene at 39 minutes past midnight, more than two hours after the blast. Greater Manchester Fire and rescue Service group manager Ben Levy (Image: Manchester Arena Inquiry) Some of those firefighters had been based at Manchester Central fire station, just a few hundred metres from the venue, and were shocked when they were ordered to Philips Park, especially as they could see ambulances were arriving at their station on Thompson Street, the continuing inquiry into the incident has been told. Firefighters initially told to meet miles from ArenaĪfter the attack, Mr Levy and two other fire service managers met firefighters at Philips Park fire station in Miles Platting, even though it was three miles away from the arena, amid fears of a continuing terror attack. The fire service has previously apologised for taking more than two hours to get to the scene of the May 2017 attack, when suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed himself and 22 others, seriously injuring hundreds more. The inquiry heard Mr Levy had previously said the fire service was seen as a 'laughing stock' due to its response and that he felt 'anger, shame and utter embarrassment' about their reaction to the bomb. Moments later he was 'relieved of his duties' by one of Mr O'Reilly's assistants during a 30 second phone call, the inquiry heard.

READ MORE: Fire services bosses slammed at the Manchester Arena bombing inquiry The fire brigade commander on the night of the Manchester Arena bombing was 'relieved of his duties' after he had challenged his chief's decision to send just 12 regular firefighters to the scene, the public inquiry into the atrocity has heard.īen Levy told the then chief fire officer of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, Peter O'Reilly, that he had decided to deploy firefighters to the scene just after midnight - about 90 minutes after the blast - after learning the other emergency services were already there.īut he 'challenged' Mr O'Reilly when he was told just three fire engines were to be sent to the arena carrying twelve firefighters, the same number who would be called to a house fire.