It is something nobody could ever compensate for a feeling of deep loss that only those with children could imagine. As Elisabeth Agasa stood outside her home, ravaged by flames, she watched firefighters desperately attempt to save her young son and the realisation slowly dawned that these men and women were fighting a losing battle.

Lubale Munina was rescued from a fire on April 26 this year. After attempts were made to resuscitate him, he died hours later in Great Ormond Street Hospital. He was just four years old.

Lubale's home, in East End Road, East Finchley, housed 12 asylum seekers, and was not equipped with an adequate fire alarm system. In September, an inquest will report on the exact cause of death.

A private landlord, Mohamed Khatib, of Queens Avenue, Finchley, rented the property to Barnet Council which claims it cannot be held accountable for Lubale's death. A statement from the council at the time said that the landlord "had met all the necessary statutory requirements as far as fire precautions were concerned".

Brian Coleman, GLA member for Barnet and Camden, said: "Lubale's was an unnecessary death. We are determined to never see anything like that happen again in Barnet I don't want any more fire deaths in my borough. Ever."

By way of making this happen, the council this week announced plans to install 10,000 smoke alarms in tenanted properties in the next two years, beginning at the end of the month.

At the moment, only 1,575 of 12,161 of these properties have a detector fitted.

July 17, 2002 18:30