More than 200 firefighters were sent to tackle the blaze which was reported just before 1am on Wednesday.
Six people were confirmed dead in a massive fire that engulfed a London tower block before dawn on Wednesday and the number is expected to rise, police said.
"In my 29 years of being a firefighter I have never ever seen anything of this scale", Cotton said.
Another witness said a family friend was "stuck on the eighth floor with her 5-year-old daughter" until 5 a.m., nearly four hours after the fire broke out.
British media reported that residents had become trapped in the upper floors and were desperately screaming for help as the fire spread through the building.
A boxing gym and a nursery are housed in the tower, according to a news release a year ago from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. A cordon is in place around the building and around 30 adjacent flats to the tower block have been evacuated by the police.
More than 200 firefighters are on the scene at the 27-storey Grenfell Tower.
Other survivors spoke of confusion and conflicting advice given to residents, many of whom had been advised in advance not to leave their apartments in the event of a fire.
The fire has been declared a "major incident" by London authorities.
Two hundred fire fighters were at the scene along with forty engines that were called at just after 12.50 a.m.
Former fire marshal Robert Rowe told CNN the fire appears to have been "moving very quickly".
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"The potential for a fire to break out in the communal area on the walkway does not bear thinking about as residents would be trapped in the building with no way out", it said.
Eyewitnesses said they have seen lights - thought to be mobile phones or torches - flashing at the top of the block of flats.
"People are still trapped on their windows screaming for their lives saying they can't get out", tweeted a man who identified himself as Fabio Bebber.
A local action group who highlighted safety concerns about the block also said their warnings had fallen on "deaf ears".
Robert Black, chief executive of Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, which manages Grenfell, said: "The fire at Grenfell Tower is devastating and the reports of injury and losses of life absolutely heartbreaking".
"I looked through the spy hole and I could see smoke everywhere and the neighbours are all there".
Shortly after 6am, London Ambulance Service said 30 people had been taken to five hospitals.
Assistant Commissioner Dan Daly says on the London Fire Brigade's Facebook page that it's a large and very serious fire.
London Underground said the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines have been closed between Edgware Road and Hammersmith because of the fire.
The 27-story Grenfell Tower was built in the 1970s and recently subject to a $10.9 million redevelopment, according to property firm Rydon.
The Metropolitan Police have set up a casualty bureau for anyone concerned about their friends and family on 0800 0961 233.
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