Solar panel fire

Firefighters are highlighting the importance of keeping doors closed at home if you can to prevent fire and smoke spreading after a fire in Wickford yesterday.

Crews were called to London Road, Wickford at 5:13pm to reports of a roof fire after residents heard their smoke alarms and saw smoke.

On arrival, crews reported that the roof space of a detached house was on fire. 

Firefighters found the source of the fire was in an electrical cupboard in the loft connected to solar panels on the roof. 

Firefighters worked to extinguish the fire by 8:14pm. 

The cause of the fire was an electrical fault. 

Watch Manger Andy Smith from Wickford Fire Station had just finished work and was cooking dinner when he was paged about this incident. 

He turned the oven off and headed straight to Wickford Fire Station alongside a crew of on-call firefighters. 

He said: “This incident shows why it’s so important to have working smoke alarms at home. The residents heard their smoke alarms going off and saw the smoke coming from their roof and were able to get out of the house and call us. 

“We’d also like to highlight the importance of keeping doors closed at home if you can. You’ll see in the photos that because the residents had shut the door to the electrical cupboard, this prevented the smoke and fire spreading throughout the loft and further into the house.

“If you can try to keep internal doors closed as part of your day to day life, it could help prevent damage to your property if there’s a fire. If there’s a fire in your home and it’s safe to do so on your way out of the house, close as many doors as you can and this can help contain the fire to the room it started in.”