Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 01/03/2004 12:30

Cornwall County Fire Brigade were called to a domestic fire at 00.20 hours on Wednesday 25th February. A fire had broken out in a top (2nd) floor bedsit at Maer Down Road, Bude. Residents were alerted to the fire by the actuation of the automatic fire detection system which had been installed within the property.

The occupant of the flat had returned home and placed a chip pan on the cooker. They then left the chip pan unattended and it caught fire. They were rescued by a fellow tenant after being alerted by the fire alarm and smoke excreting from under the door to their room. The heroic rescuer, protected by a fire blanket, banged down the door and fought the fire using the appropriate foam extinguisher, then pulled out the occupant. Both rescuer and occupant were treated at the scene and hospital for smoke inhalation.

On arrival at the incident firefighters quickly discovered that all residents had been accounted for and were safe outside. The fire was quickly extinguished and residents were allowed to return to their accommodation. Unfortunately the bedsit where the fire had occurred had suffered considerable damage. However, it was contained to one room as the bedsit door had a correctly fitted fire resisting door and it had been closed after evacuation.

Station Officer Peter Robinson, Cornwall County Fire Brigade said: “This was potentially a very serious fire. If the automatic fire detection system and fire doors had not been installed by the landlord, with the collaboration and intervention by North Cornwall District Council the fire could have been fatal and some or all of the property could have been lost”.
This property has 3 storeys and is classed as a house in multiple occupation (HMO). A HMO is any property which is occupied by more than one household - a typical example would be a three storey property that has been split into three self contained flats, one on each floor, all sharing one entrance door. These properties also include bedsits, hostels and some bed & breakfast establishments that do not come under the Fire Precautions Act.

Statistics consistently show that a person living in a HMO is six times more likely to die in a fire than a person living in a normal domestic property i.e. house or bungalow.

Due to the increased risk from fire within HMOs there are laws in place that can protect residents. These requirements include an inter-linked automatic fire detection system, emergency lighting, fire blankets, fire extinguishers and most importantly, a protected means of escape. The property in Bude had all of these requirements and they were found to be in a good state of repair.

Properties such as this are inspected once a year by the Environmental Health Section of North Cornwall District Council (NCDC) to ensure that they comply with all the relevant legislation assisted by Cornwall County Fire Brigade.

During the last year NCDC’s environmental health’s private sector housing team have carried out risk assessments on over 500 properties across North Cornwall. The initial assessments were to determine whether a property is an HMO. Over 200 properties were confirmed as HMOs. The Council has put in place a regular inspection regime to ensure that all three-storey HMOs are inspected every year, and all two-storey HMOs once every five years.

During these inspections trained council staff will look at the fire safety measures and means of escape, and the general state of the property, its amenities, any issues of overcrowding and all aspects of the building that may affect the health of the occupant.

NCDC works very closely with Cornwall County Fire Brigade to ensure that properties are being brought up to all the required standards of Fire Safety. If properties do not meet the required standards the Council work with landlords to make sure that the necessary improvements are made.

The landlord of Maer Down Road Bude, Mr R Bull said: “We try to be responsible landlords, and make every endeavour to comply with the legislation that applies to this type of property. It takes a serious incident such as this to make you realise that, if it were not for the fire safety measures specified by North Cornwall District Council and the Fire Brigade, then a young woman could have possibly lost her life and 9 other tenants may have been made homeless”

Environmental Health Officer, Graham Farthing explains: “We believe in taking an informal, friendly approach to encourage landlords to complete the works however if they don’t co-operate we have enforcement powers through the Housing Act to ensure that the necessary work is carried out satisfactorily”.

A new law is expected within the next two years to make it compulsory for all HMOs, that are three storeys or above, to be licensed by local councils.