A teenager is believed to have sparked the Battersea flat fire by accidentally spraying his deodorant can too close to an open flame, according to reports.
Paramedics rushed Atrin Behazadi, 13, to hospital with skin peeling off his stomach and arms on Tuesday. Fifty other people living in the high-rise tower block were evacuated.
His mother Sarah, 43, a dental technician, told Mail Online: “I went to do a quick shop when my daughter Atis called me and said, ‘Mum, something exploded’.
“My son, Atrin, was spraying himself with deodorant in his room and it hit a tea light candle.”
She hailed the quick actions of her daughter Atis, 15, who called emergency services to the 20th floor flat, saying she had saved many lives.
She added: “The paramedics told my son to wrap himself in a blanket so he wouldn’t go into shock.”
“He’s okay now, but the doctors have told me to keep an eye on him in case he gets a fever.
“The smoke alarm in the apartment didn’t work and there aren’t any in the corridors.”
Her daughter Atris said that her brother had burst into her room saying his body was burning and they needed to get out.
She told Mail Online: “I was in my room and suddenly my door burst open. I saw a bright light from the flame and heard him scream.
“The fire calmed down, but there was still a flame on the cabinet. I wanted to put it out but there was glass all over the floor. I called my mum and 999 immediately.”
The blaze took hold in a flat on the 20th floor of the high-rise on Westbridge Road in Battersea.
LFB sent 70 firefighters to the scene after the blaze was reported at 8.02pm on Tuesday.
A statement from Wandsworth Council on general fire safety measures in the housing it provides said: “Fire extinguishers are not provided in the communal areas of the building. We cannot, and would not, expect residents to fight fires.”
