Single mum speaks out about ‘nightmare’ experience escaping fire on 20th floor of flats

By James Mayer, local democracy reporter

A single mum of three has spoken out about her “nightmare” experience of living through a large fire that broke out on the 20th floor of a block of flats.

Marianna Demetri and her son, 17, daughter, 10 and four-year-old son had to flee through smoke from their home – the kids without having time to put on shoes on October 12 just after 8pm.

Around 70 firefighters rushed to a tower on Westbridge Road, Battersea – as they were showered with glass from exploding windows as they left the block.

She has now been living in a Clapham Junction Travelodge for three weeks.

The fire is believed to have been accidental and involved a candle and a child was taken to hospital by ambulance.

The 40-year-old said: “My flat is okay it just really smells bad and has got the smoke smell it in and my main concern is the outside of my flat.”

In a tweet, she said: “It’s honestly like me and my kids are living a bad nightmare with no way out.”

I’m a resident who was evacuated the first was on my floor we have just a been dumped in the travel lodge with no help at all no@ohone calls nothing now that want us to@go back it’s worse then before my children are in living hell nosy cares about us we are victims too pic.twitter.com/RqqO2dibft

— Marianna Demetri (@MariannaDemet14) October 31, 2021

Marianna said: “There was a bang at my door and my neighbour said there’s a fire in my flat you need to get out immediately.

“I shut the door, I went back, my kids were screaming, we were trying to find our shoes, my reaction was do I put a wet towel over my kids’ mouths.

“I opened the door again to come out and the smoke came into the flat

“It was this thick, white smoke and as soon as it entered the flat the smoke alarm started going off. We couldn’t even see the way to the stairs.”

Marianna and her three children had to scramble down 20 flights of stairs to get out.

The mum continued: “I didn’t even realise that my two younger ones didn’t even put their shoes on.

“I got down and I couldn’t find [my kids]. I remember I was screaming and trying to find them and then all of a sudden massive explosions went off.

“Apparently it was the blast from the flat windows and all the glass was just hitting us on the top of our head and then we literally just stood there outside the block and then watched it burn.

“I just kept saying to myself, I’ve lost everything, I’m a single mum, I work hard, we have a nice home.

“My daughter was screaming saying we’re going to die. She is traumatised.”

Now the mum believes the already awful damp in the flat will be “out of control” as it has been shuttered for a month.

She continued: “Nobody with any authority came from the council. They sent a liaison officer and he had no idea, he didn’t even have a plan or what to do in case of a fire.”

Marianna said the only suggestion the liaison officer had was to stay with family that night so she went to her mum’s house.

She said Wandsworth council wanted to send her and her kids to Fulham or Chiswick but Marianna refused because she needed to be near her GP for health reasons.

The council put the family in a Travelodge in Clapham Junction where they have been for around three weeks.

Marianna’s 17-year-old has his own room and Marianna shares a bed with her two children as her 10-year-old daughter is too scared to leave her.

She said: “I’m having to deal with her having nightmares, she’s having counselling at school, we’ve been to the doctors.

“We’ve had no help and the council can’t help us financially so I’m having to pay for breakfast, lunch, dinner, takeaways – it is an actual joke the amount of money that I’ve spent.”

She added: “It’s like fighting in a battle that I’m never going to win.”

She said the council have been unresponsive and hasn’t been updating her on the situation.

A spokesperson from Wandsworth Council, said: “In the immediate aftermath of the fire we arranged for this tenant and her children to be rehoused temporarily in a hotel while repairs to the communal areas of the block are carried out.

“She is currently booked into the hotel for another five days and if the repairs are complete by that date she will then be able to return to her home. We are in touch with her and happy to discuss any concerns she may have.”