Firefighters have praised a quick thinking mother who ensured she and her children escaped uninjured from a fire in their kitchen, at a flat in Shadwell early this morning.
Whitechapel Watch Manger Chris Jones who was at the scene, said: “She did everything right - from having a working smoke alarm that sounded and alerted her to the fire, to closing the kitchen door and taking her family to an area of the flat unaffected by smoke after calling the Brigade.
"It shows the importance of having a working smoke alarm, they can buy you vital seconds to escape in the event of a fire. We recommend having one on every level of your home and testing it regularly.”
Crews from Whitechapel, Dowgate and Bethnal Green fire stations attended the washing machine fire at the flat on Swedenborg Gardens, but the blaze was out by the time the Brigade arrived.
The Brigade was called at 0222 and the incident was over by 0237. The fire is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault in the washing machine.