A JOINT inquest in Bury has heard how a firefighter's death may have been avoided if safety warnings had been observed.
Sub-officer Paul Metcalf drowned while searching a Holcombe Brook lodge for 15-year-old Reyaz Ali on September 5 last year.
The inquest, in its fifth day, was told by Mr Gerard Forlin, the barrister acting for Mr Metcalf's family, that the Greater Manchester Fire Service had sent out a memo in 1997 advising personnel should be trained in water rescue techniques.
Senior officer John Beryl, who took over command over the search and rescue operation from a lower rank, admitted during the hearing that he had never seen the memo.
The hearing was also told the rope used by Mr Metcalf during the failed rescue attempt should have been withdrawn from service five months before the tragedy at Simon's Lodge in Holcombe Brook.
The inquest continues.
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