Students warned of pan fire dangers after kitchen blaze

Firefighters have warned students about the dangers of pan fires when cooking food is left unattended following a major kitchen blaze. Around 200 students were evacuated from halls of residence at Bradford, when food caught light in a third floor flat in the six storey block. Smoke detectors sounded the alarm, and all the residents escaped without injury. Firefighters were soon at the halls to tackle the blaze, which was confined to the flat. “It was quite a severe fire which destroyed the majority of the kitchen and caused a lot of smoke damage in the flat,” said a fire service spokesman. “We’d like to remind people not to leave pans unattended.” Meanwhile, The London Student Group, which operates off-campus shared houses for students in North London, has fitted smoke, heat and carbon monoxide detectors in a portfolio of letting houses. Each student bedroom has a smoke alarm wired in to heat alarms in communal spaces. London Student Group’s CEO Rob Hunter said: “This project aimed to meet two objectives. We wanted to be the first multi-site ‘off street’ landlord in London to be accredited under the AFS Unipol Code, an accreditation scheme operated by Unipol – the main UK student housing charity – and Accommodation For Students – the main UK student accommodation search engine - which we have now achieved. “We also acted in advance of an anticipated additional licensing scheme to be imposed by the local council under Section 56 of the Housing Act 2004, as we are always keen to stay ahead of the game. “We chose Kidde for its reputation and, crucially, because of the high quality technical telephone support offered when we did our pre-ordering research. Our decision proved to be the right one and the products have been a success. “They were easy to install and commission, and look great, fitting into our ethos of providing robust, quality housing and anticipating higher standards to come. The fast-fit system onto wireless bases also allows us flexibility to deal with any future changes.”

Landlord blog

Sam Dickinson

Further reading

Demand for PBSA in the UK highlights global supply imbalance

Peer proposes to keep student tenancies as periodic

Unite Students sees robust rent growth and high occupancy levels