Discarded cigarette thought to have caused fire which ripped through 10m-long hedge at Portsmouth home

Two engines from Cosham Fire Station were sent to a property on Tregaron Avenue at 2.51pm today to deal with the ‘fast developing’ fire.

Firefighters arrived to discover the entire 10m length of the garden hedge was in flames.

Crew manager Stuart Mangan said: ‘Because it’s so dry, we had a fast developing incident that put the property under threat.

‘It took us a good half an hour to get it under control, and another half an hour to dampen down the area.’

The fire was extinguished before any damage was caused to the house, and two ambulances attended the scene to treat three occupants for shock and smoke inhalation.

The fire crew believes the fire was caused by a cigarette discarded by one of the occupants.

Mr Mangan said: ‘With the severe wildfire warning in place, please do not have a barbecue or smoke, and if you do, discard your waste properly.’

The Met Office has put the region under its second-highest alert level on its Fire Severity Index, with temperatures expected to reach 26C over the weekend.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on portsmouth.co.uk. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to portsmouth.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit our Subscription page now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.