Smoke alarm provides vital early warning of fire at Rushden business

Firefighters attended an early morning fire at a town centre business after passers-by were alerted by a triggered smoke alarm and dialled 999.

Crews attended a commercial premises in Wellingborough Road, Rushden, at 6am yesterday (September 8) after receiving reports of smoke coming from the building.

At its peak, three fire engines were at the scene, where they were able to swiftly extinguish the blaze, using hose reel jets and breathing apparatus to deal with the fire.

One room suffered damage by fire and there was some moderate smoke damage to the property but firefighters believe the scale of the fire could have escalated considerably had it not been for the early warning of working smoke alarms at the property.

Crew Commander Mark Sheppard, Incident Commander at the scene, said: “This incident shows the importance of having working smoke alarms whether in your home or business.

“On this occasion the sound of the alarm alerted passers-by who immediately called the fire service. The fire service were on scene within minutes and through our swift actions in committing firefighters wearing breathing apparatus, we were able to quickly find the seat of the fire and prevent it spreading.

“I urge every business owner to review their fire risk assessment and check their fire alarms and to ensure they are fit for purpose and tested.”

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

For more fire safety information, please see: www.northantsfire.gov.uk