Woman killed in fire at care home for vulnerable adults

A WOMAN died after a fire broke out at a London care home for adults with learning disabilities.

More than 70 firefighters were called to Connington Crescent, Chingford, just before 2.15am yesterday.

London Fire Brigade said 12 people left the three-storey block before firefighters arrived.

Pictures from the scene showed flames pouring out of the roof of the building, which houses Connington Court and Connington House – both of which are run by Sequence Care and provide services to support adults with autism and other complex needs or behaviours, according to Care Quality Commission documents.

Iain Duncan Smith, the MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, has described the incident as a “terrible tragedy” and called for an investigation into the blaze.

A Sequence Care spokesman said: “We are all shocked by the death of a resident in our supported living flats at Connington Court in Chingford and our thoughts are with her family. We will offer them every support we can.

“The safety and well-being of our residents is always our main concern and while we believe that the processes that we have in place to ensure fire safety are robust, in the light of last night’s events we are carrying out further checks across all of our services.

“We would like to also thank the fire brigade, ambulance service and other emergency services for their rapid response and their support. It is greatly appreciated.

“We are working closely with the emergency services to establish exactly what happened to cause the fire.”