A fire broke out after a man burned timber on an open fire in his living room to save money on energy bills, fire investigators have said.
The blaze in New Malden, south-west London, caused “significant damage” to the property when “combustible items were left too close to an open fire”, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) explained. The man was taken to hospital following the blaze at the end of April, but was not seriously injured.
With millions of households struggling to deal with rising energy bills and the wider cost of living crisis, London Fire Brigade (LFB) has urged caution when using open fires to save money on heating homes.
“We know this is a difficult time and people are thinking about ways to reduce their energy bills, but we’re really concerned that they may be putting lives at risk by doing so,” said LFB deputy assistant commissioner for fire safety Charlie Pugsley.
The force revealed firefighters had been called to over 100 incidents involving open fires, log burners and heaters in the last few months.
Almost 30 per cent of these fires were down to items being left too close to fires, Pugsley added.