Monday 21
June
23.43 Milton Road, Milton, Weston-super-Mare
A woman had a
lucky escape after fire broke out in her flat while she was asleep
with no smoke detector to alert her.
The female was
able to raise the alarm when she awoke to thick black smoke in the
first floor flat.
It appears the
fire started after food left cooking in the oven and in a frying
pan overheated and caught light.
Two firefighters
wearing breathing apparatus (BA) extinguished the fire using a hose
reel. A positive pressure ventilation (PPV) fan was used to
disperse heavy smoke logging of the flat.
During the
incident firefighters also evacuated a gentleman living in the flat
below.
Around half of all
house fires in the AF&RS area start in the kitchen – many being
the result of cooking catching light while left unattended.
Always use a
kitchen timer when using the oven and never leave food cooking in
the grill or on a hob unattended. Read
more cooking safety advice on our ‘Kitchen Safety’ pages.
Following the
fire, crews fitted smoke detectors in the flat. Smoke detectors
will pick up traces of fire before you do, giving a vital early
warning to danger.
Make sure you a smoke detector on every level of your home, and
check them weekly. Learn more about smoke detectors (PDF
78kb, opens in a new window)