THE first firefighter at the Grenfell blaze did not realise the tower had cladding when he arrived, he told the inquiry today.

Michael Dowden said during a second day of evidence at the inquiry into the disaster that he saw an “orange glow” coming from a kitchen window on the fourth floor which seemed “contained within the compartment.”

Most high-rise blocks in Britain are designed so any fires are contained within the flat of origin, making it safest for other residents to stay put, but cladding installed around Grenfell meant the whole building was quickly ablaze.