Cat believed to have sparked 'fire' drama at Portsmouth flat

Crews from Cosham Fire Station attended the flat in Gladys Avenue, North End, after a neighbour called 999 on hearing a fire alarm.

Watch manager Steve Pearce described how they found smouldering towels over the top of a toaster when they arrived at about 2.30pm on Friday.

He said: ‘We think their cat might have jumped up on the side and switched the toaster on. It was a bit of a weird one, to be honest.

‘It was more smoke than fire, really, they were very lucky.

‘But the smoke detector did the job it’s supposed to in alerting the neighbour. It shows how important they are.’

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus cleared the flat of smoke, and there was no serious damage to the flat.

Mr Pearce added that there was also a dog in the flat, but that both pets appeared unharmed by the drama.

No one else was home at the time.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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