Warning from firefighters after town blaze

Monday 03 November 2014

A fire which completely wiped out a basement flat in town on Friday evening has prompted a stark warning from firefighters.

They have urged Islanders not to leave electrical appliances plugged in after they say a flat in St Mark’s Road was “100% damaged” by fire and smoke.

Firefighters were called to the property at around 6.40 pm on Friday after a passing driver heard a smoke alarm going off – nine firefighters were on the scene within four minutes, and brought the blaze under control with a high-pressure hosereel, and cleared the smoke with a mechanical fan.

Watch Commander Richard Ryan said that it looked as though the fire had been caused by an electrical appliance left on – and said that was an increasing trend.

He said: “Initial investigations carried out at the scene show that an electrical appliance which had been left switched on could have caused the blaze, and that electricity is a major cause of accidental fires in UK homes, over 20,000 each year.

“Modern living means we are using more and more electrical appliances in the home.

“Just twenty years ago, the average UK home would have had a hi-fi system and one TV or video. Today, it is more likely that there are at least two TVs, a DVD player, a satellite receiver, games console, microwave, computer and more.

“Therefore, the risk of electrical accidents in the home is much higher than ever before.”