Residents have been praised for their actions after a high-rise blaze on the top floor of a Southampton tower block today.
Fire chief Tom Simms said the stay put policy and the way residents followed the emergency plan helped ensure their safety and enabled crews to effectively tackle the fire.
The blaze was caused by a wok containing oil being left on the hob unattended on the 15th-floor of Albion Towers.
Eight crews attended with specialist support vehicles, including an Aerial Ladder Platform, and it was extinguished in less than an hour.
Area Manager Simms said:
“I would like to commend the actions of the residents who did exactly the right thing, stayed calm and followed the stay put emergency plan put in place by the building owner.
“Their actions really helped us to fight this fire quickly and effectively and the stay put policy worked exactly as it should. This shows how important it is to make sure you know the emergency plan of your building.
“Both the fire and the building behaved as we expected.
“I would also like to thank the crews involved for their hard work, dedication and professionalism in dealing with this incident and keeping residents safe.”
Neighbours heard the smoke alarms sound and looked through the letterbox of the flat on fire. They then called 999.
The fire was confined to one flat and nobody was injured in the incident. More than 50 firefighters attended.
Albion Towers is currently in the process of having a sprinkler system retro-fitted to give residents an extra level of protection.
Other tower blocks owned by Southampton City Council are also due to have systems installed.
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Chief Officer Dave Curry has recently championed the use of sprinklers as an effective way of suppressing a fire.
Firefighters were called at 10.34am and engines from St Mary’s, Hightown, Redbridge, Eastleigh and HFRS headquarters attended.
Firefighters used breathing apparatus, jets and tactical ventilation to tackle the fire.
A small number of people from the top floor left the building, assisted by firefighters, during the incident, in accordance with the emergency plan, but they are now back in their homes.
The fire was put out at 11.23am.