SMOKING can kill!
That was the warning from a Cleethorpes landlord who was today counting the cost of a devastating fire caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette – which put the lives of eight tenants and many more neighbours at risk. Owner of School View, in Bursar Street, Keith Newsum said: "How no one died is a miracle."
He warned all other landlords and property owners to be aware of the carnage that can be caused by smoking materials and revealed the estimated cost of the damage is thought to be in excess of £250,000.
There were eight residents in the property when fire started in the early hours of Saturday.
One of them, a 27-year-old man, alerted others by knocking on the doors.
The man, who did not wish to be named, said he was in an upstairs room.
He said: "I could hear glass popping with the heat of the fire. I went round knocking on doors to make sure everyone got out.
"It looked really bad there is a great deal of damage."
The landlord, who has owned the two-storey property for 10 years, said it had been built in 1892.
However, it will now have to be completely re-roofed and walls strengthened due to the fire damage.
And Mr Newsum believes it could be up to 12 months before all the repairs are carried out and his tenants – who have since been rehoused in other properties – are able move back in.
The landlord said: "We have no smoking signs littered throughout the property and on every door, but someone has deliberately smoked and then fallen asleep on the lounge settee.
"It is the trauma that it has caused. There were people's lives at risk.
"The fire service have said it was accidental ignition. It was a cigarette butt on the settee."
He told how four fire crews with up to 20 firefighters put out the blaze by around 1am, but due to the intensity of the heat it flared up again in the loft.
Firefighters continued to pour water over the roof and throughout the building all night.
Mr Newsum said: "You could not see the street because the smoke was that heavy."
A further five homes next to the property were also evacuated by firefighters fearful of the spread of the fire through roof spaces.
The landlord said all the rentable properties he owns, which accommodate around 170 people in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, have notices warning of the rules of the house – including never to tamper with smoke detectors and never to smoke in the property.
Any tenant caught smoking is evicted.
The landlord praised the swift response from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service and one of his tenants who raised the alarm by knocking on the doors of fellow residents.
He also thanked neighbours for their understanding and a nearby landlady for helping to house his tenants.
Bursar Street resident Paige Pogson, 17, told how she fled from her home, adjacent to School View, in her pyjamas along with her family.
She said: "It is not what you expect around midnight. You read about these things but you never expect it to happen to you."Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
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