Firefighters rushed to the scene of a fire at a block of flats on Belson Road in Woolwich yesterday (February 18), where one man was treated for injuries.
The incident, which occurred at around 3:43pm, saw firefighters responding to reports of a blaze engulfing half of a four-roomed flat on the fourth floor of the building. Upon arrival, emergency crews found one man had already evacuated the premises and was being attended to by London Ambulance Service personnel.
Fire investigators later determined that the flat did not have operational smoke alarms and identified the likely cause of the fire to be the unsafe disposal of smoking materials.
A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade emphasized the importance of practising proper cigarette safety measures, urging smokers to ensure their cigarettes are completely extinguished after use. They highlighted the potential consequences of neglecting to do so, warning that such oversights could lead to devastating fires, endangering lives and causing significant property damage.
Firefighters from East Greenwich, Greenwich, and Eltham fire stations promptly responded to the incident, extinguishing the flames and preventing further escalation of the situation. Their swift action helped bring the incident under control by 4:29pm.
The spokesperson reiterated the critical role of working smoke alarms in alerting residents to potential fire hazards, underscoring the need for vigilance and adherence to safety protocols to safeguard against such emergencies.
