Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 09/02/2006 01:55

Three people avoided being killed in a fire yesterday because of adequate fire safety precautions fitted in the property.

Firefighters from Bodmin and Lostwithiel attended a fire in a three storey terraced property in the earlier hours of yesterday morning. The property was divided into four flats.

When the firefighters arrived the fire had already spread up the stairwell but had been stopped from spreading into the flats because of appropriately fitted fire doors. Smoke alarms had alerted the three occupants and they had already escaped unharmed.

Assistant Divisional Officer Allan Guest explained: “The property had received a joint inspection by Fire Safety Officers and North Cornwall District Council a few months ago and the owner had been advised to fit fire doors and smoke alarms throughout.

“Fortunately they took our advice and I have no doubt this saved the lives of the people living there”

Keith Anstis is an Environmental Health Technician with North Cornwall
District Council:

"We inspected this property some months ago and encouraged the landlord to install a smoke detector system and fire precautions to safeguard the occupants.

"With a number of different households living under one roof there is inevitably more potential for dangers and hazards and it is very
important that landlords ensure that people are able to escape from the property in time if there is a crisis like a fire.
"We are very pleased that no-one was hurt in this case and commend the landlord for installing these safety measures which almost certainly saved people's lives"

Firefighters were called to the fire at 1.55am and managed to extinguish it by 3.36am. An investigation into how the fire started is ongoing.