Pair lucky to escape pan fire

Two men had a lucky escape after they left a frying pan on a cooker in a flat in Telford and fell asleep while it caught fire.

Neighbours at the flats on Hollybirch Grove, St Georges, heard the smoke alarm and alerted the fire brigade at 3.50pm yesterday.

Incident commander Pete Hawkins, from Telford Fire Station, said one crew from Telford, one from Wellington and one from Tweedale attended the fire.

He said: “Cooking materials had caught fire and the ground floor flat was lightly smoke logged when we arrived.

“The kitchen was heavily smoke logged but no fire damage was caused.

“The fire alarm had been activated but the two male occupants, one in his 60s and one in his 40s, had fallen asleep so neighbours in the flat above heard the alarm and called us.”

The fire crews used two breathing apparatus sets to gain access to the property and the fire was extinguished using one hose reel jet.

Officer Hawkins said: “It reinforces the importance of smoke alarms. But it was neighbours who had to call the fire brigade. This could have been a tragedy.”

He added: “It’s so important to have a smoke alarm. In this instance it did what it was supposed to do and went off and even though the occupants weren’t roused, the neighbours were.

“People need to be vigilant when cooking and never leave pans unattended.”