Chief denies fuelling killer fire

The two firemen were among 50 officers at the scene

The officer in charge when two firemen were killed in a blaze has denied that a decision to ventilate the building fanned the flames which killed them.

Watch manager Stuart Shiels said it was speculation that the order to open windows and doors was taken too early.

He told an inquest he believed officers Billy Faust and Adam Meere went into the shop in Bethnal Green, east London, after the ventilation was complete.

The increase in the fire's intensity could not have been predicted, he said.

Ventilation risk

"In my opinion, up until that moment it was a fire that we should have been able to control," he told St Pancras Coroners' Court.

Up to 50 firefighters were sent to the fire, which took hold in the basement of a three-storey building in July 2004, and two people were rescued from the roof.

But Mr Faust, 36, and Mr Meere, 27, died when they went back into the building to tackle the flames.

The men died after going back into the building

"There is always a risk in any ventilation process," Mr Shiels said.

"But by the time that Faust and Meere had gone in, the ventilation should have been completed.

"As far as I was concerned ventilation had been completed by then."

He also said he it had been acceptable to send in Mr Meere who had only completed his training two months earlier.

Mr Faust, a father-of-three, and Mr Meere were the first firefighters to die in London since 1993.

The inquest has heard that 30 minutes passed between Mr Shiels giving an order to use a fire hydrant, and the water being used.

Mr Shiels has said he did not order a mains connection immediately because only "minor smoke" was billowing from the building.

He admitted that Mr Meere should have been given a radio to keep in contact with crews outside the building.

The inquest continues.