Smoke and fire damage after kitchen blaze

The blaze started at an address on Cheltenham Avenue in Ince at around 10.30am on Saturday after the woman living there turned the cooker on without realising she had done so.

She then left the kitchen and material stuck to the bottom of a pan on the cooker caused the fire to start.

The woman was alerted to the incident by the smell of smoke and she and her son left the property immediately to call the fire brigade. Both were unhurt.

Crews from Wigan and Hindley fire stations wearing breathing apparatus tackled the flames, which left the entire downstairs with serious smoke damage.

Firefighters managed to restrict damage from the flames to the cooker and one wall of the kitchen.

The crews then used a large fan to draw all the smoke out of the property.

Watch manager Shaun Aspey from Wigan fire station said: “She has done the right thing in getting out of the house and calling us.

“There was quite a lot of smoke damage throughout the ground floor. She didn’t know she had turned the cooker on and something on the bottom of the pan has caught fire.”

The electricity supply had to be isolated and an engineer will visit to ensure it is safe to be switched on again.

The incident lasted around an hour.