Candle causes house fire in Batley

Engines from Batley and Cleckheaton attended the incident at Oakwell Avenue, Batley, at 7.18am today (Wednesday).

Crew commander James Hopkins said: “As we arrived smoke was coming from the kitchen and flames were visible. The occupants were out of the house, having been alerted by the smoke detectors.

“It seems that a candle had been left unattended which had set fire to the plastic blind.

“There was a lot of smoke damage to the kitchen/diner, but thankfully not a lot of heat damage.

“We would stress that people take care with candles and always keep them on a heat-proof base and extinguish them at night to make sure they are out.

“Also people should make sure they have working smoke detectors. In this case the occupants did, but if they hadn’t, it could have been much worse.”