Bedfordshire F&RS were called to a 5th floor residential flat fire at 23:06 on 31 July 2017. The resident had fallen asleep leaving a chip pan on, a fire broke out whilst the resident slept, fortunately the fire activated the residential sprinkler system and the sprinkler head within the kitchen extinguished the fire as well as raised the alarm. One female casualty was escorted from the flat by fire service personnel and handed over to ambulance service.
The fire officer in charge of the incident reported that without the sprinkler activation, the whole flat would have been lost and there was a real possibility that the occupant would have lost their life. The sprinkler system was reinstated the following day.
The flat was within the social housing area on the 5th floor of a high rise block of flats ( The Heights, St Johns Street, Bedford ) consisting of 14 floors. The building is not cladded but received a fire safety audit from a fire safety officer on the day of the fire as part of the services initiative following the Grenfell Tower fire.
