Council tells mum to move back into fire-damaged flat

Sabina McCabe, 20, said the fire at her two-bedroom flat had left it unfit to live in and that she wanted her landlord, Oxford City Council, to repair it before she returned.

The fire, at the flat at Evenlode Tower, Blackbird Leys, happened on Wednesday, June 23, and left her son’s room badly damaged.

Last night the council said the property was habitable, although it has advised Miss McCabe not to use her son’s bedroom until repairs are completed.

Work required includes a new window, a replastered ceiling, minor electrical work and a replacement light.

Miss McCabe, who has lived at the flat with her one-year-old son Jariyah since October, is worried her son’s asthma will be aggravated by the smoke damage.

She said: “All they have done is change the front door. My son’s room is terrible.

“It stinks of smoke and the ceilings are black.

“They are saying the flat is fine for me and my son even though he has asthma.”

“I can’t take him in that flat. It is not suitable to have him in that environment.”

Miss McCabe said the fire had started on the balcony of her seventh-floor flat before spreading to her son’s bedroom. She said: “We were out thankfully, because the firefighters said my son would have been a goner.”

Oxford City Council paid for the family to stay in a Travelodge in the days after the fire, but on Tuesday Miss McCabe was told she had to return to her home. She is now looking for somewhere else to stay.

Council spokesman Louisa Dean said: “We are trying to work with this tenant to ensure that her property returns to how it was before the fire.

“The fire damage was only in the second bedroom and we would advise her not to use the room until the repair work has been completed. However, the rest of the property is habitable while the work is being carried out.”

No-one was available from Oxfordshire County Council’s fire and rescue service last night to comment about the blaze.