Hi
I wonder if I can get some advice please. I've just had a phone call from my son who is a student living in a shared house. Last weekend they had an issue where one of his housemates put some toast on and then left the kitchen. The toast became jammed and before they knew what was happening the kitchen was filled with smoke.
They realised the problem before any damage was caused but contacted the estate agent who deals with the property as they are supposed to go throught them and not contact the landlord directly. They were concerned that since the fire alarm is in the hall, two firedoors away from the kitchen in the event of a fire two rooms would be ablaze before any alarm went off.
The estate agent has come back saying that the fire alarms are properly placed and that if there had actually been any damage the housemates would be considered negligent for having left the toaster unattended.
This sounds wrong to me but I was hoping to get some further information for my son before he replies to their email.
Is it right that they don't have a fire alarm in the kitchen or at least immediately outside it?
Can they really be considered negligent if a piece of kitchen equipment supplied by the landlord doesn't perform as it should and causes a fire?
On a related note he tells me that there is actually a 1.5 inch gap under the fire door on one of the bedrooms, can a door actually qualify as a firedoor with such a large gap beneath it?
Sorry it's so long.
Any help gratefully received.