A smoke alarm woke a family up and allowed them to safely get away from a balcony blaze on Western Gateway in Canning Town this morning.
The fire believed to have been caused by the careless disposal of cigarettes was on the top floor of the 10 storey block. The smoke alarm inside the apartment sounded and two adults and a child left the building before firefighters arrived. Thankfully there were no injuries.
Station Manager Jim Smith, who was at the scene said:
“This is another success story for a working smoke alarm waking up a family and helping to save them from fire. Everyone should have at least one smoke alarm on every level of your home and the safest option is have those linked together. This will give the earliest warning if there is a fire in your home.
“The rest of the people in the block, who weren't being affected by the fire, stayed put in their own flats which was absolutely the right thing to do.
"If you live in a high rise or purpose built block and the fire is elsewhere in the building staying inside your own flat is the safest thing to do unless the heat or smoke is directly affecting you. Purpose-built flats are designed to give you protection from fire for between 30 and 60 minutes.”
The Brigade was called at 0736 and the fire was under control by 0829. Fire crews from East Ham, Plaistow, Stratford, Poplar, Shadwell and Millwall fire stations attended the incident.
London Fire Brigade recently launched a campaign called Know the Plan designed to improve awareness of fire safety for the residents of high rise buildings and purpose built blocks, such as the one in Woodford where the fire happened, and to encourage landlords and housing providers to act on their fire safety responsibilities.