Miracle escape as fire destroys family’s home
Published: August 26, 2005
A FAMILY home in Primrose Hill was destroyed when fire tore through the building.
Six crews attended the blaze at the flat in Regent’s Park Road after neighbours spotted thick, black smoke pouring from the first floor windows.
Firefighters attempted to extinguish the fire but had to cope with a potentially lethal back draft that forced them to retreat.
Leading firefighter Cos Papandronicou, of Belsize Park Fire Station, said: “When we were fighting the fire there was a back draft and luckily nobody was injured.
“It is quite rare for it to happen but it occurs when you get a build up of gases and then it is vented. It was quite an explosive force and slammed a door shut.”
The fire started in the kitchen of a first floor flat and spread through the house, where Labour councillor Sybil Shine owns a flat.
Nobody was in the house at the time but the owners returned to find firefighters at the scene.
Rupert Holmes, 47, who has been living at the house for 15 years, was in Moscow when his wife Julia sent him a text message to tell him about the fire.
He said: “There was a period of about 20 minutes when we didn’t know where the nanny and our children were, but luckily there was nobody at home at the time of the fire.
“I am just pleased nobody died - there was some substantial damage and if someone had been here they could have been badly hurt.
“Luckily most of our irreplaceable belongings, like photographs, were not damaged.”
Neighbour Sally Roter, 57, was having a garden party barbecue at the time.
She said: “I smelt smoke and I thought, ‘that isn’t the barbecue,’ so I went outside. There was black smoke billowing phenomenally out of the windows, although strangely enough I couldn’t see any flames.
“Lots of fire engines arrived - at one point I counted 12 - and they stayed until about midnight. The firemen had oxygen masks and there was a huge ladder going up to the roof.
“The road was closed completely and everybody in the park was watching. It was all very dramatic.”
Crews from Belsize Park, Kentish Town, West Hampstead and Euston were called to the scene at 4.30pm on Saturday. They battled the blaze until about 7pm.
Mr Papandronicou added: “The damage was quite substantial. As the house had been converted into flats we had quite a few false walls and ceilings which caught fire.
“We managed to stop it spreading to the roof but the kitchen was gutted and the back bedroom was smoke damaged.”
The cause of the fire is not known and is currently being investigated.
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