Fire service crew manager urges people to use smoke alarms after Wisbech resident’s lucky escape

Two crews were called to a house fire on Baxter Close, in Wisbech at 12.30pm on Friday.

The fire had started when the occupier of the house had left cooking unattended to take a phone call.

The fire was out on arrival of firefighters, who ventilated the property.

One casualty was treated at the scene by paramedics for minor smoke inhalation.

Clive Griffin, crew manager at Wisbech, said: “Unattended cooking is a very common cause of house fires as it only takes a few minutes for a serious fire to develop.

“This was a particularly dangerous fire as the batteries had been removed from the smoke alarms in the property, putting the residents at serious risk.

“Never take the batteries out of a smoke alarm because you never know when a fire might start.”