London Fire Brigade Commissioner Andy Roe has spoken of his profound sadness after the tragic death of two sets of twin boys aged three and four at a house fire in Sutton yesterday evening (16th December).
The Brigade was called at 18:55, and the fire was under control by 2036.
Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were called to the house fire on Collingwood Road in Sutton.
A spokesperson for the LFB said that the first fire crews on scene were faced with an intense blaze throughout the ground floor.
Firefighters in breathing apparatus entered the mid-terrace house and brought four young children out of the property.
They were given immediate CPR by firefighters at the scene, who continued to administer treatment to assist the London Ambulance Service.
All four children were rushed to hospital where, tragically and despite the efforts of medical staff, they were pronounced deceased.
Talking about the tragedy, Mr Row said:
“This is an incident that has left everyone numb with profound sadness.
“My thoughts are with the family and friends of the children, the whole local community and all those who will be affected by this fire.
“Fire crews arrived quickly and located the children inside the property.
“They were brought out of the house and given immediate emergency care.
“The welfare of our staff involved in this incident is very important to us and all of them will be offered counselling as a priority.”
LAS’ Brian Jordan told BBC Breakfast:
“We had a whole range of our resources there to try and do everything we could to save the children.
“All of our crews are trained to deal with situations like this, but these kinds of situations will obviously be affecting them very hard.
“We will obviously provide all the support to them that we can.
“I think it’s very difficult at this time of year as we approach Christmas and that makes it much more poignant as well.”
MPS Superintendent Rob Shepherd said:
“The thoughts of everyone at the South Area Command Unit are with the family and friends of these four young children, who have suffered such a devastating and tragic loss tonight.
“I know these sentiments will be shared by the local community, Sutton and London as a whole.”
Firefighters from Sutton and surrounding fire stations were at the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
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