Man unable to return home after fire seriously damages his Werrington home

Crews from Dogsthorpe and Stanground were called to a house fire in Church Street, Werrington, at 5.10pm on Thursday, May 12.

A neighbour called 999 after smelling smoke and on investigating heard the smoke alarm from the property next door and saw smoke issuing from the chimney and letter box.

Resident John Leetle was able to escape the blaze unharmed, but the property is now no longer habitable and the Red Cross Fire Emergency Support Service unit had to attended in order to help John find a place to stay.

Crew Commander Brian Ferguson said: “Firefighters arrived and found smoke pouring out the chimney and letter box on the front door. We forced entry into the property as the occupier was not at home and were met with a well developed fire in the kitchen.”

“Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used hose reels and jets to extinguish the fire and positive pressure ventilation fans to clear smoke from the property.”

The kitchen was completely burnt out and the rest of the property was heavily smoke-logged.

The fire was caused accidentally when a pan was left on a hot stove.

Crew Commander Ferguson added: “We would urge residents never to leave cooking unattended, even for a short period of time.

“There was a smoke alarm in this property, which was heard by a neighbour who immediately did the right thing and called 999. Please make sure you have a working smoke alarm on each floor of your property and that you test them regularly.

“Looking after each other in our community is the best thing we can do to help people stay safe. If you know someone who is vulnerable, check in on them, fit a working smoke alarm for them, or get in touch with us to see how we can assist.”