Safety advice issued following flat fire

Firefighters have issued safety advice following a fire at a ground floor flat in Long Riding, Basildon, this evening which has left two people homeless.

Crews were called to the property at 7.19pm when a neighbour dialled 999 after hearing a smoke alarm go off.

When they arrived the property was heavily smoke logged and firefighters believed the occupants were still aside. They carried out a full search and rescued two cats, two snakes and two geckos. Unfortunately two budgies had died.

Luckily, the residents were found to have been out for the evening so were not in the building at the time.

It is thought the fire may have been caused by an electrical charger left unattended or by discarded smoking materials.

Watch Manager Howard Midwood paid tribute to the bravery and skill of the crews who entered the property and to the professionalism of the control room team who assisted during the incident.

He said: “Initially we thought there were people trapped but thanks to the bravery and skill of the crew entering the premises and the information we received from the control room, we could ascertain that nobody was in the property. The control room team really are the unsung heroes of our Service. They do a great job.

“I would like to take this opportunity to remind people not to leave items charging unattended and to dispose of smoking materials properly.”

Our advice when using chargers:

• Don’t leave items on charge or plugged in overnight or whilst you are out of the house.
• Never leave them plugged in and turned on when they are not in use.
• Don’t leave items on charge for long periods.
• Only use the charger supplied by the manufacturer.
• Look out for the CE mark that indicates chargers comply with European Safety standards.

If you're a smoker or you have a smoker living in your house, make sure you follow our advice to stay safe at home.

• Make sure your all cigarettes are fully extinguished.
• Take extra care when you’re tired, taking any sort of drugs or have been drinking alcohol. It’s very easy to fall asleep while your cigarette is still burning.
• Never smoke in bed - if you need to lie down, don’t light up. You could doze off and set your bed on fire.
• Never leave lit cigarettes unattended - they can easily overbalance as they burn down.
• Use a proper, heavy ashtray that can’t tip over easily and is made of a material that won’t burn. Make sure your cigarette is fully extinguished.
• Tap your ash into an ashtray, never a wastebasket containing other rubbish – and don’t let the ash or cigarette ends build up in the ashtray.
• Use child safe matches and cigarette lighters and keep them safely out of the reach of children
• Fit and maintain a smoke alarm - a working smoke alarm can buy you valuable time to get out, stay out and call 999.

More home safety advice is available here.