Gosport firefighters scrambled to fire started by hamster cage left on an oven hob

Two crews from Gosport Fire Station were scrambled to a property in Heritage Way after the cage caught alight from a hot hob at around 10.24pm yesterday.

The flustered hamster was safely removed from his cage before it melted and the firefighters’ speedy arrival stopped the incident escalating into a more serious house fire, according to firefighter Mark Pettifer.

The emergency services worker said: ‘I think the cage had been placed on the hob and triggered it to turn on.

‘The plastic base had started to smoke. We were there really quickly – it wasn’t an inferno or anything.’

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‘The hamster survived – he was running around a fair bit.’

The firefighter said that residents must be careful when placing anything on a hob – even if they believe it to be off.

He said: ‘You cannot be too careful.

‘Putting stuff on a hob is always a fire safety concern.

‘They do turn themselves on.’