Electrical fault sparks bedroom fire in early hours (From St Helens Star)

Electrical fault sparks bedroom fire on Prescot Road, St Helens in early hours

9:44am Monday 25th February 2013 in News

FIRE crews suspect a blaze in the bedroom of a house was sparked in the early hours of Sunday morning (February 24) by a faulty heater.

Neighbours alerted emergency crews after seeing smoke billowing out of a first floor bedroom of a property on Prescot Road, St Helens.

One man, who was out of the house when firefighters arrived, was taken to Whiston Hospital to be checked following the fire, which broke out at about 1.30am.

Two high pressure hoses were used to extinguish the flames and crews also had to search the property to make sure no-one was inside.

Watch Manager Alan Moore, who attended the call-out and is based at Eccleston Community Fire Station, issued a warning after finding the property did not have smoke alarms.

He said: “The suspected cause of the fire was a suspected electrical fault with a heating appliance.

“Around 80per cent of the bedroom and its contents were severely damaged by fire. No smoke alarms were present in the property.

A neighbour could smell smoke and saw smoke billowing out of the house.

“Smoke alarms give you the vital seconds you need to escape a fire.

“We used fans to clear the smoke in the property and also carried out a Home Fire Safety Check at a neighbouring property.”

Officers carried out reassurance visits at 15 nearby properties during Sunday to highlight fire safety messages.