Firefighters issue stark safety warning!
Firefighters from Warwickshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service are asking residents not to take chances with their lives after a fire devastated a flat in Rugby.
The original fire broke out in the home at around 1am in the morning after the resident fell asleep before extinguishing their cigarette. Luckily the resident was woken by their flat mate and the fire was extinguished using a couple of buckets of water. The room was then left to air and the residents went to sleep in another room.
Area Risk Manager, Ian Tonner said:
“On attending this incident a number of concerns were raised. The most worrying being that the fire brigade was not called to tackle the original fire. Although the residents did attempt to put the fire out, their attempts failed and the fire continued to smoulder for five hours before a secondary fire broke out causing severe fire and smoke damage to the property and leaving both residents needing urgent medical attention for smoke inhalation.”
“These residents were lucky, they managed to escape, but due to their smoke alarm not activating, the fire went unnoticed until it was almost too late!”
The serious nature of this incident should be a warning to all residents, that smoke alarms do save lives. All homes should be fitted with a smoke alarm and tested on a weekly basis. To help keep your home, family and friends safe, then make sure that you apply the following guidelines into your home:
* Make sure that you have a working smoke alarm fitted in your home.
* Ensure that all cigarettes / smoking materials are put out before you go to bed.
* Never tackle a fire in the home - get out, stay out and call the fire brigade out !
* If you live in flats or share a house, always evacuate the building – fires can quickly spread and can leave you without an exit from your home.
For further information on fire safety in the home or to find out more about our Free Home Fire Safety Checks log onto http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fireandrescue