THE first firefighter to follow two colleagues into a burning flat where they died died today told an inquest he couldn't see or hear anyone else inside.

Peter Bates said he knew two teams had already entered Flat 72 at Shirley Towers, Southampton, because he could see their hoses leading upstairs inside.

But the St Mary's-based firefighter told Southampton Coroner's Court there was no sign at all that anyone else was still inside the ninth floor property where Alan Bannon and Jim Shears died.

He said he was surprised to find a "severe fire" in the lounge, which was thick with smoke, and was "slightly confused as to where everybody was".

Mr Bates said the blaze was so intense he and partner Gareth Hitchcoe had no choice but to start tackling the flames, in spite of the risks for anyone higher up in the property.

Mr Bates said: "If I've ever been stuck between a rock and a hard place that was the time.

"Knowing that they could be upstairs, but knowing that I couldn't leave that fire to get worse, because that's what it was doing."

Mr Bates said he began "pulsing" short bursts of water at the fire in an attempt to contain it, while minimising the risk of creating steam.

Despite the firefighting efforts the blaze escalated, engulfing the whole lounge, and after receiving what he understood to be a message saying the two earlier teams were out of the property, he and Mr Hitchcoe continued pulsing water until they were relieved by another team.

Earlier in the inquest, the court heard from Liam Ryan, a member of the first team into the flat, whose hands were badly burned when the heat suddenly escalated as he and three colleagues attempted to return down to the lounge area.

He said the extreme heat that pierced through his protective clothing felt "like steam".

Mr Bannon, of Bitterne, Southampton, and Mr Shears, of Poole, died in a sudden massive escalation of tne blaze inside the flat.

Proceeding