An unattended pan of food and no smoke alarms were a recipe for disaster when a kitchen fire broke out at a flat in Liverpool. 

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service was called at 2.33am this morning (7 January) after neighbours in an adjoining flat smelt smoke. Neither flat had a smoke alarm fitted. 

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two jets to extinguish the fire, which involved a pan of food on a gas hob, and managed to contain the fire to the kitchen. It was extinguished by 2.53am, but left severe smoke damage to the rest of the property. Firefighters led the residents of both flats to safety and gave them oxygen. 

Watch manager Neil Cleworth, who is based at Croxteth Community Station and attended the call-out, said: “The suspected cause of the fire was accidental after food was left cooking unattended. 

“There were no smoke alarms in the two flats in the building. We urge people to never leave cooking unattended and to have working smoke alarms on each level of their home. It is lucky that neighbours noticed this fire as the outcome would have been far worse.”

Original source

Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service 

Commercial buildings, non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises in England and Wales are already forced to undertake a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

While the overwhelming majority of premises do this, if the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.