Carelessly discarded cigarette blamed for Wigan borough flat blaze

A crew from Atherton fire station had been called to reports of a smell of smoke in Wardley Square, Tyldesley, shortly after midnight on Thursday January 5.

But it took a while to trace the source of the fumes.

Reinforcements from Bolton Central and Eccles were called while firefighters wearing breathing gear broke into the home, working on the assumption that there may be someone inside.

Thankfully the occupant – a man in his 30s - had been out and returned later to find the emergency services damping down a blaze in his bedroom and ventilating the home plus an empty flat above.

The flat had been locked and the seat of the fire was a mattress in the man’s bedroom. He is a smoker and Atherton watch manager Lewis Cross said that following an investigation, the cause had been put down to carelessly discarded smoking materials.

The resident said he had not been in the flat since 8am on Wednesday morning but the electrics had been off for six months, there was no sign of forced entry nor any other possible causes presenting themselves.

The bedroom was fire damaged and the rest of the address heavily smoke-logged.

Mr Cross said: “No smoke alarm went off. Had it done so, it is highly likely the fire would have been discovered much sooner and far less damage caused.

"We were walking around the estate trying to sniff out the smoke. I actually walked past the flat and rounded a corner to find a boiler but there was no smell there. It was another person behind me who saw smoke coming out of a vent.

"While we can be grateful that no-one came to any harm, this should serve as a warning to people to have working smoke alarms in their homes.”

Crews were at the scene for about two hours. None of the other block’s residents was affected nor needed to be evacuated.