Finchley Road fire: Husband and pregnant wife tell how they escaped blaze which ripped through their home

The fire on Finchley Road
Twitter/@mamta88

A husband and his pregnant wife today told how they fought through thick smoke and clambered from the rooftop to safety as fire ripped through their home.

John Morales, who works in derivatives, and his wife Mai were rescued by firefighters using a “cherry picker” turntable ladder as fire tore through the four-storey building next to the O2 shopping centre in Finchley Road, Hampstead.

Mr Morales, a US citizen, said: “My wife smelled smoke and woke up and the next thing we knew there was a thick cloud coming in. We clambered out through a small window at the back of the apartment and out into the roof - it was pretty terrifying.

“We got onto the roof and then we saw firefighters in a crane and we managed to get to them and jump in and get to safety. My wife is five-and-a-half months pregnant and we needed to get out fast. It all happened very quickly. I have been in a fire in New York so I knew what to do. When we moved in to this flat I worked out the escape exit. I am glad I did.”

Fire: the mobile phone repair shop in Finchley Road
London Fire Brigade

The couple returned to see the charred wreckage of their home today. They were among 25 people rescued from the flats yesterday morning by firefighters in breathing apparatus. Twelve residents were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and a two-year-old child was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Blaze: Smoke continues to billow out of the building in Finchley Road

Mr Morales said: “We have lost everything we have worked for and irreplaceable items like the wedding ring and photographs. I lost things that my mother had given me to remind me of the hardships our family went through when I was younger - it is heartbreaking.”

The high-flying couple have been in London for two-and-a-half years. Mr Morales said: “We have been happy here we love it but we do not have any family here and now feel very alone after this fire. But at least we are OK and our unborn son is OK.”

Another resident, Marta Sanz, 26, a nanny, today said: “I was in bed when the firefighters burst in and just shouted ‘go, go, go.’ They bundled me out and through dark corridors to safety. I though I was going to die, it was terrifying. I fear I have lost everything.”

Mrs Morales said: “We have lost everything and now we must rebuild our lives. We don’t know what is going to happen.” The couple are staying in a Hampstead hotel while an insurance claim is processed.

Blaze: fire crews working at the scene Finchley Road Fire
Dominic Brett

Part of Finchley Road remained closed today as 35 firefighters continued to damp down. The blaze forced the O2’s Vue cinema to cancel last night’s premiere of the James Bond film, Spectre. The 02 was evacuated just after 6.30pm after acrid smoke entered the air conditioning system, leaving 1,500 Bond fans disappointed. Finchley Road Tube was shut temporarily due to a related power failure.

The fire is believed to have started in a mobile phone repair shop before tearing through the building, which contains nine flats. An electrical control box was today under investigation as the possible source of the fire. Ten fire engines and 70 firefighters fought the blaze. Some 35 firefighters remained on scene this morning.

Fifty people living in adjacent buildings were evacuated and forced to find alternative accommodation last night.

London Fire Brigade today faced accusations of failing to contain the blaze quickly enough. Damian Otwinowski, a retail director and neighbour of Mr and Mrs Morales, watched his fourth-floor flat burn yesterday evening, 12 hours after fire had first taken hold.

He told the Standard: “Instead of the fire coming under control it was allowed to gradually work its way up and up the building. I thought in the morning the fire wouldn’t reach my flat. The fire didn’t seem that big at all. But now I’ve lost everything, all my possessions. It was all in there, all the memories of my life.”

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: “The incident was protracted due to the complex layout of the building and the fact that the fire had got into the voids between the floors of the building.”

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