Warning after tumble dryer fire in home with no smoke alarm

Three crews from Bognor and Chichester were called at 6.08pm oN Wednesday to a ground-floor kitchen fire in Central Avenue, Bognor.

When they arrived flames were visible through the conservatory roof, which housed the kitchen.

Although the property had no working smoke alarms, a fire door to the conservatory had been closed preventing damage to the rest of the house, the fire service said.

The blaze was quickly extinguished and nobody was hurt. But watch manager Russell Moore said things could have been much worse.

‘The people in the house were lucky as they were alerted by a passer-by. There has been a lot of coverage nationally about a spate of fires caused by tumble dryers,’ he said.

‘We know that this fire started in the tumble dryer but not whether this model is one of those that have caused national concern.

‘We would urge all home owners to make sure that they regularly clean their tumble dryers, as this home owner had done, and also check whether their appliance is one of those identified as being at risk.’

He added all homes should have a working fire alarm and said: ‘The outcome of this incident could have been much worse.’

At-risk brands include: Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda. People can check if their machine’s model number is one of those affected, by looking on the Indesit and Hotpoint safety sites.