TWO children were rescued from a fire at a flat in Luton after a candle set light to a television set on Tuesday.
The children, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, were still inside the ground floor flat in Rothesay Road when fire crews arrived at the scene.
Fire control received the initial 999 call at 6.50pm and upon arrival found a woman at the entrance to the property, who said her children were still inside.
Incident commander Malcolm Ball said: “Although it was not a big fire in the living room, there were large quantities of thick smoke and it was very dark, which had prevented the mother from getting to her children. Our fire crews arrived and were immediately able to enter the property, in breathing apparatus, and rescue the two children.”
Two fire crews from Luton and one from Stopsley attended the scene, and firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and used fans to clear smoke from the three-storey terraced house.
The ambulance and police also attended and after receiving treatment for light smoke inhalation the occupants were allowed back into their property.
Watch Commander Ball said: “This incident shows that candles increase the risk of fire in the home and need to be
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used very carefully and not left unattended. There were no smoke alarms in the flat, and although the fire damage was relatively small, the smoke caused by the fire could have resulted in serious injury or worse.”
Bedfordshire Police are not treating the fire as suspicious.
Anyone wanting free fire safety advice in the light of this incident should visit www.bedsfire.com, or call the fire and rescue service (01234) 845000.