£17,000 fine for fire safety offences
Property company P.T.F Properties was successfully prosecuted by London Fire and Rescue Service after pleading guilty to four fire safety breaches, resulting in £17,000 fines and costs by West London Magistrates Court.
On 1 April 2007 a fire started in a first floor flat above a café in King Street, Hammersmith and 8 fire engines and around 40 firefighters were needed to tackle the blaze.
The fire doors and fire detection system had not been properly maintained within the property allowing smoke and fire quickly spread and blocked the single means of escape
Four residents were trapped before they could make their escape. Two of the residents were helped to safety across a first floor flat roof by neighbours. Another had to hang and drop from the second floor to the first floor terrace. The fourth resident was rescued by firefighters via a ladder.
The Hammersmith and Fulham Fire Safety Team found numerous breaches of fire safety regulations resulting in P.T.F Properties Limited pleading guilty to four breaches of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
