Maxim chickens on fire

[phobic3000]

Maxim chicken opposite cherry tree - fire brigade just turned up

[phobic3000]

We were just walking past and saw a fairly small chip pan fire and the bloke inside attempting to put it out with a fire extinguisher. After no time at all flames high enough to touch the ceiling! My girlfriend called the fire brigade, while I warned the family living upstairs and made sure they got out safely. Whilst this was going on some people were helping to evacuate the staff and cut off the gas supply. I can't believe how quickly it all happened. Family looked a bit shocked but thanks to a speedy response from fire brigade I think all is ok now!

[BunnyBurrow]

Yeah,good on the guy who knocked on the door of the family upstairs!

[PeckhamRose]

phobic3000 looks like you could have saved lives today. Good for you. I hope you are giving yourself a good evening.

[red devil]

phobic3000 Wrote:

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> We were just walking past and saw a fairly small

> chip pan fire and the bloke inside attempting to

> put it out with a fire extinguisher. After no time

> at all it was a raging inferno, flames lapping the

> ceiling!

Sounds like the fire extinguisher may have been water based, not a good combination...

 

[phobic3000]

Thanks PeckhamRose! I think they would have been fine given the speedy response from the fire brigade. Other people were helping out, checking the fire escape etc and staff around the back of the chicken shop to making sure everyone got out safely, then I suddenly thought about the people upstairs. They had no idea that directly below their flat was a fire getting bigger by the minute! Felt like a good deed done.

Edit - just to say it all happened so quickly and I'm sure someone else would have warned the family upstairs if I hadn't! Everyone that helped did a good thing, especially the guy that cut off the gas supply! I think he or she was the real hero.

[Sue]

red devil Wrote:

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> Sounds like the fire extinguisher may have been

> water based, not a good combination...

>

>

I've seen that demonstration, it was horrific.

Glad everyone is safe, but it's a bit worrying that a place presumably constantly dealing with hot fat didn't apparently have a suitable fire blanket or extinguisher to deal with a fat fire.

Maybe someone panicked and used the wrong extinguisher?

[Jeremy]

Nice work phobic3000!

Sue Wrote:

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> Maybe someone panicked and used the wrong extinguisher?

Yeah sounds like that could be the case...

[FatherJack]

phobic3000 Wrote:

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> Thanks PeckhamRose! I think they would have been

> fine given the speedy response from the fire

> brigade. It was interesting because other people

> were watching what was happening and checking the

> fire escape around the back of the chicken shop to

> make sure the staff were all out. Then I suddenly

> thought about the people upstairs! Nobody had

> thought to knock on their door. They had no idea

> that directly below their flat was a fire getting

> bigger by the minute! Felt like a good deed done.

You did a good thing calling the fire brigade and knocking on the flat immediately above the shop. So did the two men who went into the shop via the shop's back door, what Phobic3000 probably didn't realize is that they were isolating the gas supply, encouraged the workers to leave and prevented water being used to put fire out. As Phobic3000 says the fire took hold very quickly. The smoke was thick and billowing into the flat above the neighbouring shop also, people were banging on that door too.

It all happened very very quickly, the flames were touching the ceiling in Maxins in seconds.

Well done to all who tried to help.

I don't think it's fair to say nobody thought to knock on their door, it's at the side of building and I'm sure someone would have, fortunately you did.

[Jeremy]

I don't think phobic was criticizing others, just saying that he was the first to think about warning the tenants upstairs.

[phobic3000]

Sorry Fatherjack and any others who helped out, I'm not trying to sound like a hero here, just glad I could help. I didn't know about gas supply, so now I know more detail it looks like whoever cut the gas is the real hero. I was very impressed by the fire brigade. Very quick to attend. Glad everyone is OK.

[phobic3000]

Cheers Jeremy, I was definitely not critisizing others, just saying what I remember happening, whilst giving myself a little pat on the back!

[alice]

get a mammoth pat on back - you saved lives

[Otta]

Yeah well done phobic, good work.

[MissKing]

Well done! How scary. I wouldn't want to live above a shop for this reason....

[solar]

Well done for preventing a potential disaster. I don't think it's very safe having living accommodation above a takeaway or restaurant.

[worldwiser]

As about a million Londoners await their eviction notices from solar's firm of bailiffs..

[Otta]

There are several reasons that I'd be reluctant to live above a takeaway, but risk of fire would be pretty low down the list. How often do you think these places catch fire?

I'd be more concerned about how they dealt with their waste, and what sort of pests it attraced.

NOTE: Not a comment on Maxim, just remember a guy I knew living above a kebab shop in Peckham, and seeing some big rats in his kitchen.

[phobic3000]

Not to mention the temptation to eat kebabs or fried chicken every day!

[James Barber]

I used to live above a sandwich shop. Great combination. During they day they kept an eye on the two flats above them and took parcels in. Other times we kept an eye on their shop. great sandwiches on the way to work every day.

But when I bought the flat mortgage providers didn't have an aversion to such flats.

[Otta]

It's bad that they do now.

[NewWave]

I used to live above a shop in Notting-Hill and it was brilliant,

The shop below me closed at 6pm and didn't open Sundays, but next door was a late night convenience store and newsagent who were superb, They took in Parcels, kept an eye out for me (I lived alone at the time), and because both shops had cctv outside I always felt very safe.

The only negative was papers being delivered around 6am so I'd hear that,

But what was also great was that if I fancied a glass of wine or ran out of teabags I only had to nip downstairs.

Plus I loved knowing that although I lived in a first floor flat I could dance up and down the living-room (which was much larger and with higher ceilings than I'd find in a non-commercial building) and not disturb downstairs neighbours.

In fact I loved that flat.