Leeds fire: log burner sets house on fire

The incident happened at about 11pm yesterday at a five-bed detached house on Elmete Lane, near the White Horse pub, Roundhay.

Firefighters from Moortown arrived to find the living room of the house in flames.

Two neighbours had tried to put the fire out using a hose pipe but failed. Much of the house was damaged by smoke but no-one was injured.

A firefighter said: “The family had gone out but left the log burning stove on with logs piled up next to it. The logs caught fire, which spread to a television surround. We are seeing more and more of this kind of fire. People think it looks idyllic to stack logs next to the wood burning stoves but the reality is it is an accident waiting to happen.

“In a way it’s a return to the old days when people had open fires as more people buy log burners, the fires are real and much more unpredictable. We’d advise people not to stack logs next to their fire.”

Meanwhile, fire crews in Harrogate responded to two malicious calls from the same address, one during the day, another at 1am. A spokesman said: “While we have to respond to all incidents, this clearly takes time and means our appliances are not available for other incidents.”