Mount Green Housing Association has been ordered to pay £120,636 after serious fire safety failures contributed to the death of a vulnerable resident in a fire at the Greylees property in Godalming in January 2022.

The fire resulted in a wheelchair-using resident being unable to evacuate safely, who was then overwhelmed by heat and smoke within the communal corridor. Fire and Rescue Service crews rescued several other residents, with a number requiring hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

Mount Green Housing Association, as the responsible person for fire safety at the premises, admitted breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. These breaches exposed residents to the risk of death and serious injury and included failures to:

• Install a self-closing device on a flat entrance door
• Provide a correctly designed and configured fire safety system to support the building’s Stay Put strategy
• Act on fire safety recommendations that had been identified as early as 2019

This case highlights the critical importance of implementing and maintaining appropriate fire safety measures, particularly where vulnerable residents are present, and of acting promptly on identified risks.

Lee Spencer-Smith, area commander at Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, stated: “First and foremost, the thoughts of everyone here at the Fire and Rescue Service remain with the loved ones of the person who lost their life in January 2022. This sentencing was about accountability in terms of public safety. This is something that we, alongside many other public bodies, are working hard to encourage. ‘Responsible Persons’ have a Duty of Care to their residents, particularly so the most vulnerable members of the community.”

Spencer-Smith concluded: “This outcome highlights the consequences of failures in fire safety management and the critical need for proactive and responsible action to protect people.”

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