Man escapes fire in flat thanks to smoke alarm
A man managed to escape to a fourth-floor balcony after a fire broke out at his flat in Stonehouse.
The man was taken to Derriford Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation but he is not thought to be in a serious condition.
Firefighters were at the scene quickly and gave the man first aid on the balcony until paramedics arrived.
It is thought that the fire may have started near the television but it is not yet clear if the fire was started by a candle.
Incident commander Phil McKenna, of Greenbank Fire Station said: “The smoke detector probably saved his life, because he was in the affected room at the time. That should act as a strong warning to anyone who does not have one in their home.”
A police spokesman confirmed that the incident was not being treated as suspicious.
Man saves child from bedroom fire after hearing smoke alarm
A man has risked his life to save a young child from a fire in a flat in Hull.
The fire started in a spare bedroom of a bottom floor flat at The Lawns in Sutton near Hull at around 4am on Saturday.
He tried to get the mother of the child to escape down the stairs but she was too frightened and would not leave. The man grabbed the child and ran from the property.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service’s head of safety, Daryl Oprey, said: “It was a magnificent act of bravery to not think about himself but to run up the stairs and try to get the mother and child. He didn’t for one moment consider his own safety, but that of others. It was very selfless. His actions are not something we advocate, but you have to praise those who do carry out such heroic acts.”
22 firefighters attended the blaze, which destroyed two homes in the complex. Five people needed to be evacuated from the flat.
Mr Oprey also praised fire crews for safely rescuing the child’s mother from the top floor window.
Mr Oprey said: “There were flames coming out both sides of the building. The mother wouldn’t come down with the neighbour but ran to the room furthest away from the fire. We arrived and immediately put up a ladder and smashed the window to get her out as the flames were already climbing the stairwell. We also led two people out from the other flats. The main fire was put out quite quickly, but we had to spend a few hours dampening down. It was a stressful situation for the fire crews as there were people in danger. It was emotionally charged, but the firefighters are well trained to deal with this. We are very relieved there were no serious injuries or worse. A fire like this would not be survivable if the smoke detectors hadn’t gone off. Without this, the actions of the neighbour and the quick response but the crews, it could have been a different story.”
Both mother and child were taken to a local hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
An investigation will be carried out into the cause of the fire.
Smoke alarm alerts neighbour to house fire
A man was taken to hospital after a fire broke out at his home.
Fire crews from Great Holm and Bletchley attended the incident at the property in Rushleys Close, Loughton, at around 9.15am on 27th January.
Watch Manager Dominic Smith said: “The fire started in the bedroom and we are investigating the cause. The occupier initially tried to tackle the fire but was helped out of the bungalow by a neighbour who heard the smoke alarm and saw the smoke. The neighbour did really well to get him out and we hope he is on the way to a full recovery. Our advice to anyone discovering a fire in their home is to get out, stay out and call 999 rather than to try to tackle it and risk serious injury.”
The bedroom was badly damaged by the fire and the rest of the bungalow suffered smoke damage.
Smoke alarm alerts neighbour to house fire
Two crews from Thames-side fire station attended a fire in St Dunstans Drive, Gravesend, on Wednesday 11th January at around 12pm.
The fire is thought to have started when the woman accidentally turned on the cooker before leaving her home. A neighbour heard the smoke alarm and quickly alerted the fire service.
Thames-side crew manager Dave Aylwin, said: “Once inside we discovered that a wooden knife block had been left on the cooker. It is believed that the resident had brushed past and accidentally turned the knob on before leaving her home. Thanks to working smoke alarms in the property, a neighbour was alerted and called 999. This enabled our crews to get to the fire quickly, contain it and prevent it from spreading, resulting in minimal damage. However, without the working smoke alarms fitted in her home, the fire could have gone undetected and had far more serious consequences. Fire breaks out when you least expect it and this incident is a timely reminder to other residents that cookers should only be used for cooking and not as additional storage space.”
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.’