A new fire safety campaign urging private sector landlords and letting agents to always abide by the law and install smoke alarms on every storey of their rented properties has been launched by West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The fire service has created a video calling on landlords to ‘Let it, don’t forget it’, which you can watch by clicking here.
The call comes three years on from the tragic deaths of three-year-old Logan Taylor and his brother Jake Casey, aged two, in a house fire on Alder Street, Huddersfield.
The letting agent responsible for the property was jailed in July 2018 for 12 months for failing to fit smoke alarms to the house.
Kamal Bains, then aged 51 and of Stableford Gardens, Birkby, pleaded guilty at Leeds Crown Court on 16 July, 2018, for failing to install smoke alarms, under Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, of Exposing Public to Risk.
The fire was believed to have started as consequence of an electrical fault in equipment which was in the young boys’ bedroom. The two boys were asleep in their bedroom when devices including a television set alight and proved fatal for the two boys.
Dave Walton, deputy chief fire officer, said: “This was a desperately tragic case for everyone affected by it and without doubt the boys’ memory will stay with the attending and investigating firefighters for the rest of their lives also.
“On the third year anniversary of the boys’ loss we want to remind landlords and letting agencies of their responsibilities to install smoke alarms on every storey of their rented properties and carbon monoxide alarms in any room containing a solid fuel burning appliance.
“Do not take the risk with people’s lives and do not think that a fire ‘will never happen’ – it could well. If you are a private sector landlord or letting agent then take your responsibilities seriously and take heed of this warning.”
Kamal Bains has since been released from prison.
The Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm Regulations 2015, said that private sector landlords are required from 1 October 2015 to have at least one smoke alarm installed on every storey of their properties and carbon monoxide alarms in any room containing a solid fuel burning appliance. The landlord must also make sure the alarms are in working order at the start of each new tenancy.
For further information on government regulations, click here.
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