Beauty salon blemished in tumble dryer fire

Monday 24 August 2020

Oily towels and blankets spun in a tumble dryer are believed to be the cause of a fire in a town beauty salon this afternoon.

The Jersey Fire and Rescue Service (JFRS) crew were called shortly before 14:00 to the New Street premises, which was described as "filled with light but acrid smoke".

Two firefighters entered wearing breathing apparatus but the fire had gone out by the time they arrived.

The smoke was then cleared using a ventilation fan and the tumble dryer was removed for inspection.

One staff member suffered mild smoke inhalation after attempting to tackle the fire by removing the burnt towels from the dryer.

"Whilst the Service commends the staff member attempting to minimise the risk of the fire spreading by tackling it themselves, our advice is always to get out-stay out and call 999 rather than put themselves at risk," a JFRS spokesperson said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but officials said "early indications suggest accidental ignition caused by towels and blankets, impregnated with oils, that overheated in the tumble dryer."

It comes after all full-time JFRS crews returned to Rouge Bouillon on Sunday (23 August) after the four fire watches - red, green, blue and white - were split between the town headquarters and the Western Fire Station as a covid precaution in March to ensure that, if one staff member became ill, the whole crew would not be affected.

A spokesperson for the Justice and Home Affairs Department said: “Due to the introduction of the Level 1 Safe Exit Framework, all full-time fire crews are once again operating from the Rouge Bouillon headquarters rather than being split between the Rouge Bouillon headquarters and the Western Fire Station. The Western Fire Station has now returned to only being crewed by retained firefighters.”