Landlord jailed for death trap housing
A millionaire landlord and his son have been jailed for three months each after renting out death trap flats to vulnerable families.
Around 12 families paid Mr Fazal £100 per week to rent accommodation in an inner-city area of Manchester.
One flat that was occupied by a couple with a young child, had a first-floor landing littered with discarded furniture, mattresses, beds and electrical appliances. Inspectors found that bare electrical wires were hanging from the ceiling and the electrical wiring had been by-passed, no fire alarms had been installed and statutory fire risk assessments had not been carried out.
While renting out such horrendous accommodation, Fazal was living a life of luxury in his £1.3million house in a private cul-de-sac in Cheshire.
Fazal admitted six fire and safety offences and his son, Shahbaz, pleaded guilty to housing condition charges and fire and safety offences.
Judge Roger Thomas told them: ‘It’s wholly evident from the photographs and the description that the people who lived in those flats that they were living in squalor effectively. Having taken those flats you must have done very little indeed to make the accommodation habitable for the poor people who lived there and from whom you took weekly cash payments. The bigger thing that one can’t help but remark on is while you were trading in that way, you for your own personal comfort were living at the very opposite end of the housing spectrum. You were being treated to a very substantial home yet while you were living in the lap of luxury the people you were responsible for were living in slum conditions. No fire broke out and nobody was injured, but the risk was very real and your culpability is considerable.’
Manchester councillor Paul Andrews said: ‘It is absolutely shocking that a landlord in 21st-century Manchester is content to let a family live in this kind of squalor, when he is living content in Hale Barns surrounded by rich footballers. Slum landlords should be a thing of the past and I hope this serves as a warning to others who think they can rent out revolting properties and get away with it.’
Firework fire at international footballers home
Two fire engines attended an incident at the home of Italian international footballer, Mario Balotelli in Mottram St Andrew, Macclesfield on in the early hours of Saturday 22nd October.
Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus quickly extinguished the fire in the bathroom. A spokesperson for Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Crews managed to put the fire out within half an hour of arriving but remained at the scene until 2.45am to prevent any possible flare-ups. Smoke alarms were fitted at the property and the occupiers were able to get out unharmed.”
Initial reports suggested that Mr Balotelli had caused the fire himself but he made a statement to confirm this was not the case: “The newspapers got the story wrong about me and the fire at my house. I didn’t set any fireworks off; it was a friend of mine. I didn’t know anything about it until I heard the shouting coming from the bathroom. Luckily, nobody was injured, and my friend apologised to me for the damage to my house. It was a really stupid thing for him to do, someone could have been really hurt, and I was really, really angry with him about it. It is important message that children should not mess with fireworks. They can be very dangerous if they are not used in the right way. People should follow the firework code.”
Mr Balotelli was unhurt in the incident.
Information on how to use fireworks correctly can be found here!
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Fire service warns of chimney fires as winter approaches
West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has issued a warning about chimneys as we approach the winter months.
Open fires and stoves can become a serious fire safety hazard if the correct precautions are not followed.
West Sussex fire service reported that it was called to extinguish more than 214 chimney fires in 2010.
Jackie Boyle, Community fire safety officer, said: “The weather has turned considerably colder and we know people are turning to open fires. The best piece of advice we can give to anyone planning to light a fire is to make sure they get their chimney checked and swept. If you can, inspect your chimney breast, particularly in the roof space. Make sure that it is sound and that the sparks or fumes cannot escape through cracks or broken bricks. Of course, you should also make sure you have a working smoke alarm on each level of your home – early detection saves lives.”
UK fire statistics show that each year around 30,000 houses have chimney fires.
This will mostly be caused by not getting the chimney swept often enough or burning fuel that is inappropriate for the appliance and causing tar to build up in the chimney. More information can be found on how to ensure your chimney is safe on The Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps website.
Elderly woman escapes home after ‘wheat bag’ fire
An 80-year-old woman was forced to flee her home after a hot wheat bag she was using to keep warm, burst into flames.
The lady called the fire service to her home in Cleethorpes at around 2.30am on 19th October after she was woken by her smoke alarm and saw smoke billowing from the wheat bag.
Watch manager Ken Mawer who attended the fire said: “The lady had gone to bed at 10.30pm so the bag had been smouldering for some time. At some point it had fallen to the floor and caught fire. Thankfully there was a working smoke alarm in the property which alerted her to the fire. There is no doubt that if the house had not been fitted with a smoke alarm the outcome could have been a very different one.”
Mr Mawer added: “I cannot stress enough the importance of reading the manufacturer’s instructions before using a wheat bag. I urge people to be extra careful, never wrap them up in other fabrics as this can cause them to overheat and catch fire.”
The bag is a type of pillow filled with wheat which is heated in the microwave and will remain warm for a few hours. In this incident, the wheat had overheated and started to smoulder inside the pillow.
The woman, who does not want to be named, said: “It was all right for a while and I fell asleep. The next thing I knew there was a lot of thick, dark smoke filling the room. It was enough to set my fire alarm off. I tried to keep calm but it wasn’t very pleasant. I am the sort of person that hates bothering anyone and I thought of my poor son who would have to come out. I didn’t have a choice but to ring the fire brigade. It has given me a wake up call. You just don’t expect that sort of thing to happen but the fireman told me it has happened before. I will definitely be sticking to my bed socks from now on. I am just grateful I had a working fire alarm. I don’t like to think what could have happened.”
The lady was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation but did not require hospital treatment.
In 2010 there were three deaths in the UK caused by overheated wheat bags. Surrey and Sussex Fire and Rescue Service filmed a warning video earlier this year, on the dangers of incorrect use of wheat bags.