Smoke alarm warning after undetected fire

Safety warnings have been issued by firefighters after they discovered a woman had fought a fire in her kitchen without calling for help.

It was only after they knocked on the door of the Maidenhead resident offering a free smoke alarm test as part of their fire safety campaign, that the woman said they were too late and she had had a fire the week before.

Chris Havers, green watch manager at Maidenhead Fire Station was horrified to hear that the woman had tackled the chip pan fire herself and that they had a smoke alarm that did not work. All that remains of the alarm now is a blackened, melted mess.

He said: "Amazingly they managed to put out the fire, she said she had melted the arms of her dressing gown. They only discovered the fire by chance, it happened about 10.30 at night. They were extremely lucky."

The firefighters had leafleted the road to inform residents with the date they would be coming around for the assessments, but when they called at the house there was nobody home.

Watch manager Havers said: "We were so close to being able to make them safer. My advice to people is to get a smoke alarm, make sure it works and if you get a fire, shut the door, get out, stay out and call 999."

Now he is warning other residents to take up the fire service's offer of a free Home Fire Risk Assessment, where firefighters will install long-life smoke alarms in your home.
To find out about a free Home Fire Risk Assessment, call 0800 587 6679 or email community.safety@rbfrs.co.uk