Heater warning after bedroom fire in Leigh

A heater started a house fire after being left on in an upstairs bedroom.

Fire engines from Hindley, Eccles and Birchwood were called to the property, in Butts Street, Leigh, at 8.40pm last night (Sunday).

The bedroom was left heavily smoke-logged and the blaze caused heavy damage to the room.

Mick Callan, watch manager at Hindley fire station, said the occupant of the house had gone out when the fire happened.

He said: "The heater had been left an in an upstairs bedroom.

"The occupant had gone out and the heater had caught fire and set fire to the carpet, before spreading across the carpets and setting fire to other things in the room.

"We managed to contain the fire to the upstairs bedroom which was badly damaged.

"Crews from Hindley, Eccles and Birchwood equipped with breathing apparatus used hose reels to put out the fire and they were detained for around two hours.

"There was quite a lot of heavy and thick black smoke and once the fire was extinguished, we had to ventilate the room to get rid of the smoke using a large fan.

"Nobody was in the house at the time and it didn't spread to any neighbouring property. "

He urged people to make sure heaters were not left unattended.

He added: "If anyone goes, make sure electrics are turned off.

"Due to neighbour's being alerted to the smoke, we got there before things could have got worse."

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