Failure

8:38am Wednesday 14th May 2008

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There was much heroism in the fire which ravaged the Partlett home in Oxford on Sunday morning.

Firefighters were praised for rescuing mum Charmaine and three of her young children from their three-storey house.

But the accolades stop on the steps of Oxford Town Hall.

The family were woken by their smoke alarm.

But when they were put into emergency accommodation by the city council, their new 'home' was in an appalling state - and none of the smoke alarms worked.

We know it was a Sunday and that the transfer had to be done in a rush.

But the council must make sure that its emergency accommodation is fit for purpose at all times. It failed miserably on this occasion.