Firefighters were called to reports of smoke coming through a wall in a flat on King Square in Finsbury last night.
The five young people who shared the flat smelt smoke in their kitchen, but when they searched their flat and the flat above them they could not find the source of the fire. They left the building and called the Brigade.
Firefighters traced the fire to behind wooden panels in the bathroom. After cutting the panels away, crews discovered an electric heater that had been boxed in and left permanently switched on.
Fire Investigator Stuart Drummond who was at the scene said: “The occupants were initially mystified. They told fire investigators that they did not know there was a heater behind the panel or how long it had been switched on. It’s lucky that they noticed the smoke when they did as the wood had been smouldering for some time and could have developed into a very serious fire. Two smoke alarms in the communal stairway had flat batteries and so it was chance that the occupants noticed the smoke in time. I can’t stress how important it is to have a working smoke alarm on every floor of your home and to check them regularly. This incident just shows that it’s not always obvious when there is a fire in your home.”
“I would also ask landlords to visit our fire regulation page to identify any fire risks in your property.”
Three fire engines and around 14 firefighters and officers from Islington, Shoreditch and Euston attended the incident.
The Brigade was called at 2310 and the fire was under control at 2343.
