Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Park House Flats, St Austell at 14/02/2023 01:45

Fire Control were called by an alarm receiving centre reporting an automatic fire alarm actuating at Park House Flats, St Austell. As part of the brigade's pre-planning for high rise residential buildings, three appliances were mobilised from St Austell and Mevagissey along with an Aerial Ladder Platform from Truro as well as a Wholetime Officer.

On arrival crews conducted a thorough search of the building and determined the cause of the alarm to be from a person smoking in a communal area.

DID YOU KNOW?

Since 2007, the internal communal areas of block of flats must be smoke-free by law. Residents who smoke in the internal communal areas can be prosecuted by the local authority and fined up to £200.

Enclosed communal areas or blocks of flats are designated smoke-free premises. Smoking in these areas can cause fires as well as false alarms such as this which has a significant impact on the fire brigade and it's resources.