Twenty firefighters were helped by sprinklers when they tackled a fire at a hall of residence block on Greenwich High Road, on Saturday evening, 4th October 2014.
The fire started in a communal kitchen on the seventh floor and is believed to have been caused by cooking using hot oil. The female student in the kitchen described the flames rushing by her as she was at an adjacent work top.
Fortunately there were sprinklers fitted in the block which activated before she left the room and limited the amount of damage to the kitchen.
Around 160 people evacuated from the building before the arrival of the Brigade. London Ambulance Service treated a woman at the scene as a precaution.
The Brigade was called at 1954 and the fire was brought under control at 2114. Four fire engines from Greenwich, Deptford and New Cross fire stations attended the incident.
The sprinkler system was reinstated the following morning.
In a statement on their website, LFB said ‘there is clear evidence sprinklers can be effective in suppressing fires quickly. As well as reducing death and injury from fire, sprinklers also lessen damage to property, the risk to firefighters, the effects of arson, the environmental impact of fire and the fire costs and disruption to the community and business.’
