A HOUSE fire at Fentonbury earlier this week has been declared an accident. Fire crews from Westerway, Ellendale, Bushy Park and Gretna arrived at the scene just after 10pm on July 12, finding the three-bedroom house well alight.
Fire investigator Adam Doran said the fire had started when a chair that had been left too close to a wood heater caught alight. “The occupant of the house was asleep in the lounge room and woke to find the lounge chair in the same room well alight, after their dogs started barking,” Station Officer Doran said. “After attempting to extinguish the fire themselves, they evacuated the house with their animals to a neighbouring property to alert the Tasmania Fire Service.”
The responding fire crews took about an hour to bring the fire under control. “The home was not fitted with working smoke alarms, and considering the fire started in the same room the occupant was sleeping in, if they weren’t woken by their dogs the consequences could have been much worse.
“TFS recommends that working smoke alarms are installed in all sleeping areas, hallways and at the top of starts. This included lounge rooms if they are ever slept in. Anything flammable must be kept at least two metres from a heater,” Mr Doran said.
The house was deemed to have been completely destroyed, with an estimate of $300,000 damage.
