Candle safety - House fire off Cannock Wood Street

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service responded to reports of a house fire off Cannock Wood Street, Hazelslade at 12:29am on Friday 1 October.

Two appliances from Cannock attended the scene and committed two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus with a hose reel jet within the property to deal with the fire, which was extinguished at 1:00am.

A woman was administered oxygen at the scene due to smoke inhalation, and was later taken by ambulance to Walsall Manor Hospital. A man was also taken to hospital for precautionary checks.

They were both discharged from hospital later that morning. 

The cause of the fire has been confirmed as accidental, due to a candle being left unattended inside the property. The occupiers had fallen asleep and were alerted through a smoke alarm, where they attempted to extinguish the fire themselves before recognising that the conditions were too severe. They had already left the property as a result when our crews arrived.

One room inside the property was severely damaged by the fire, with some heat damage extending further into other areas. The entire property was affected by smoke damage.

We would ask members of the community to be extremely careful if using candles in their home, especially if doing so late at night. Although significant damage to the property was caused, the presence of a working fire alarm had alerted the occupants who were able to bring themselves to safety. In the event of a fire we would always advise people not to try tackling it themselves, but to leave the property via the nearest available exit and to call 999.