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This week evidence was presented by former London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton, who previously told the Inquiry that the LFB could not have prepared for a fire like Grenfell Tower. This time, she conceded that in the years leading up to the fire, the LFB failed to take on board national guidance that warned how combustible cladding could lead to rapid fire spread, as it did at Grenfell. Evidence was also provided by another former LFB Commissioner, Ron Dobson. We heard how LFB Incident Commander training fell short of commitments they made in light of the 2009 Lakanal House fire. David Brown, former LFB Director of Operations, continued his evidence from last week covering the training of Control Room staff. Presenter: Kate Lamble Producers: Sharon Hemans, Nathan Gower Researcher: Ben Henderson Studio Mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Hugh Levinson
Dany Cotton spent over three decades serving with the London Fire Brigade, retiring as Commissioner. We discuss her journey into the fire service, forging diversity through mentoring, the impact of budget cuts on service and health, violence on first responders, heroism at the Grenfell Tower fire, dirty politics and much more.
Dany Cotton's departure:London's Fire Commissioner, Dany Cotton has been forced out of service by Mayor Sadiq Khan over her “insensitive” response to the tragedy in which 72 people who died. The Evening Standard's Ross Lydall broke the story and spoke to The Leader podcast about the meeting with Grenfell families that forced the Mayor to act.Tackling extremism: The Evening Standard has been investigating measures to prevent extremism in the UK following the London Bridge attack last week. The dreadful attack has prompted a fierce debate about sentencing - but should there be more of a priority on tackling the problem at its root? Our Home Affairs editor Martin Bentham told the Leader podcast about his special report. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Dany Cotton the Commissioner of the London Fire Brigade talks about how she dealt with trauma in her years as a firefighter. Dr John Green Chief Psychologist for Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and Gill Scott-Moore CEO of Police Care UK discuss how best to help first responders with their mental health. We discuss the power of grime music to politically engage young people with the campaigner Amika George, Dr Joy White who has a Phd in Grime and the author and performer Debris Stevenson. The Great British Bake off winner from 2015 Nadiya Hussain talks to us about how her pets help her relax. Dr Katherine Garzonis a psychologist, the author of gardening books Hollie Newton and the food writer Bea Wilson tell us how they switch off. Children’s Laureate Cressida Cowell tells us why we all need to find someone like us in literature and why more diversity is needed in books - especially for children. We also hear from Aimee Felone a publisher and the author Patrice Lawrence. Harriet Wistrich, the lawyer and founder of the Centre for Justice for Women tells us about growing up and losing her disabled brother Matthew. We also hear from the Playwright Atiha Sen Gupta who’s disabled brother Nihal died when he was 17 year old and she was just thirteen. Presented by Jane Garvey Produced by Rabeka Nurmahomed Edited by Jane Thurlow Interviewed guest: Dany Cotton Interviewed guest: John Green Interviewed guest: Gill Scott-Moore Interviewed guest: Amika George Interviewed guest: Joy White Interviewed guest: Debris Stevenson Interviewed guest: Nadiya Hussain Interviewed guest: Katherine Garzonis Interviewed guest: Hollie Newton Interviewed guest: Bea Wilson Interviewed guest: Cressida Cowell Interviewed guest: Aimee Felone Interviewed guest: Patrice Lawrence Interviewed guest: Harriet Wistrich Interviewed guest: Atiha Sen Gupta
Dany Cotton says, 'I was thrilled to take part in this year’s Takeover and talk about topics I’m passionate about - I have managed to include something tasty, something fluffy and something serious! I will be explaining to the listeners the benefits of therapy dogs and why I will be getting one for London Fire Brigade. I also wanted to talk about an issue I have seen throughout my 32 year career – mental health and how it can affect first responders. I love cooking and I’m sure I was a mouse in a previous life, so I will also be talking about the looming Halloumi shortage.'
Fighting fires and stereotypes at the same time - Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two senior fire women in India and the UK. Dany Cotton joined the London Fire Brigade at 18, just a few years after it opened up to women. She has worked her way up to be the force's first ever female Commissioner, and is now spearheading a campaign for the general public to stop using the term 'fireman' because it's sexist. Dany still regularly attends fires with her force, including at Grenfell Tower, where more than 70 people died in June 2017. She says it's the worst incident she has ever experienced in 30 years of firefighting, and she has never felt such an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Meenakshi Vijayakumar is the Deputy Director of North Western Region at the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service. She was one of the first ever female divisional fire officers in India, joining in 2003. Meenakshi has been called out to over 300 fires in her career, as well as frequent floods and the devastating 2006 tsunami in the coastal city of Chennai. All the way she has battled a widely held belief among her own colleagues that women should not be firefighters, and says she has had to work twice as hard as a man. In 2013 she was awarded the President's Fire Service Medal for Gallantry for rescuing two people from underneath a collapsed building. (L) Meenakshi Vijayakumar. Credit: Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service (R) Dany Cotton. Credit: London Fire Brigade
Most people would probably not want to see what the firefighters who attended Grenfell Tower fire saw, or do what they did. All of the firefighters who were there received counselling after their shift had finished. Some are still having treatment, including the woman who is the London Fire Brigade Commissioner, Dany Cotton. Clifford Thompson is a journalist at the BBC but his boyhood dream was to be a firefighter: a dream he realised when he was stationed in East London at the age of 18. In this interview he reflects on his life as a firefighter, some of the big disasters he attended and how the support now offered to firefighters in dealing with traumatic events has changed. (Photo: Clifford Thompson Credit: Clifford Thompson)
Jodie interviews Dany Cotton, London firefighter and new interim Fire Commissioner, at Greenwich Fire Station. If someone says you can’t do something, do you say OK and quit? Or does being told “no” make you want to work even harder to do what everyone says you can’t? In 1987, when Dany Cotton was 18, she saw a newspaper advertisement for the London Fire Brigade. The Brigade wanted to recruit women and minority Londoners to become firefighters. Could a girl be a fireman? “Everyone thought I wouldn’t be able to do it,” she told Prospect.org, “and that it was not a job for a woman, but this just spurred me on.” That year, there were about 6,000 male London firefighters and 30 women. Learning to do the job wasn’t easy. Some of her fellow firefighters were suspicious or nasty or both. Several men at her first post transferred out and her supervisor said he didn’t think she should be there. Then three months into the job, she was on a team of firefighters who responded to a terrible train crash. Nineteen-year-old Dany did her job and won the respect of her fellows. Her firefighting skills were recognized in 1998 when she was the first woman to become a Station Officer. In 2002, she was named Public Servant of the Year; in 2004 she was the first woman to be awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal. And in 2012, she became an Assistant Commissioner. This year, the London Fire Brigade is 150 years old. In January, Ms. Cotton will become the interim London Fire Commissioner, the first woman in the Brigade’s history to have the position. She still wants to make sure anyone who is told “no, you can’t do that,” has a chance to try, even though some people still think women shouldn’t be firefighters. But when firefighters arrive at an emergency, she says, nobody asks who they are or where they come from. They are the ones running in where everyone else is running away. Jodie interviews Dany Cotton, London Fire Brigade firefighter and new interim London Fire Commissioner, at Greenwich Fire Station.