A GIANT inflatable mat would not have saved two men who plunged from

the 16th floor of a blazing tower block, a fatal accident inquiry was

told yesterday.

And a trampolene would also have been useless, Sheriff Gerald Gordon

heard.

For the men hit the roof of a nearby building after falling 170ft from

the flats in Gorbals, Glasgow, last May.

Mr Dan Kelso, 27, and Mr David O'Lone, 24, both of Croftfood Quadrant,

Castlemilk, Glasgow, died instantly, the hearing into their deaths was

told.

Sub Fire Officer James McLoone, 36, admitted that his control-room had

not bothered to tell crews racing to the fire scene in Caledonia road

that a man was clinging to the outside of the flats.

He agreed with advocate Robert Skinner, acting for the dead men's

relatives, that his efforts could have blown the man from the ledge.

If water had been hosed inside the burning flat, steam could have gone

out of the window and knocked the man to his death, he agreed.

His hose was empty when the man finally let go.

He was waiting for his men below to send water up to him, he told

fiscal Denise Greaves.

Mr Skinner claimed that efforts could have been made to rescue the man

from the floor below by leaning over a balcony and grabbing him.

Mr Skinner asked: ''Was it your conscious decision to sacrifice the

man on the ledge for others who may have been in the flat?''

Officer McLoone replied: ''I was following procedure.''

Said Mr Skinner: ''If someone is hanging from the outside of a Glasgow

high-rise flat, then officer McLoone won't rescue them?''

Officer McLoone replied: ''I didn't have the spare men or the time. I

was hoping to rescue him by going through the flat and grabbing him from

there.''

The inquiry also heard that, while the fire-fighting team on the 16th

floor waited for water from below, a hose to be connected to the

building's inlet valve was found to be 6ft short and caused a delay.

The inquiry continues.