The block of flats where a young architect died as she tried to save her fiancé from a fire had a faulty alarm system, an inquest heard.
Sophie Rosser, 23, died from severe burns after going into the burning building to help Oscar Silva and their neighbours.
She became overwhelmed with smoke and heat as she tried to get to the fifth floor of the Docklands block, where she shared a flat with Mr Silva.
Poplar coroner’s court heard Ms Rosser, who had been returning from a party in Chelsea, phoned her fiancé and rushed into the block to try to raise the alarm. Firefighters later found her on the fourth floor.
In a statement read to the court, Mr Silva said: “A cab dropped her off at 1.37 on Sunday morning and I was asleep. Sophie called me to say there was a fire and our flatmate and I should evacuate. The intercom sounded but I couldn’t hear who it was. The stairwell was full of smoke so we couldn’t get out. We went back into the flat. I rang Sophie at 1.43 but there was no answer.
“I went to get the lift thinking she might have got in, but when it arrived there was nobody in it. I closed the door to the flat and went to open the balcony. I saw the fire brigade arriving and I saw paramedics doing their best to revive Sophie.
“When we got out I went to the hospital and I saw her twice, but she never regained consciousness.”
The inquest yesterday heard from health and safety experts who said the building’s smoke alarms alerted an alarm control system instead of warning residents. The system had “crashed” and was not even linked to the nearest fire station .
Stanley Metcalfe, an expert from Rose Fire and Security, told the inquest: “When we visited on the days after the fire we found that the control panel would not accept any commands at all.
“It showed a history of faults. The alarm’s system had crashed and effectively failed to operate.”
The inquest heard that the building was fitted with smoke detectors which did not have “sounders” — an audible alarm. The inquest continues.
