A Wilmslow mother is realising the value of having a working smoke alarm in her home after one alerted her to a fire in her daughter's bedroom.
The incident started just before 7pm on January 29th when Karen Difelice and her 16-year-old daughter Serafina were downstairs at their home on Poplar Avenue, when they suddenly heard an alarm.
On investigation Karen found smoke coming from the open door of her daughter's first floor bedroom and an orange glow around the bed area. The quick-thinking mum closed the door on the fire, got herself and her daughter to safety and dialled 999 for assistance.
Firefighters from Wilmslow and Macclesfield attended and used one water hose reel to extinguish the flames on the bed. A laptop was also damaged in the fire.
The mum said "I never realised the value of smoke alarms until now. You hear about people having fires but never think it could happen to you.
"At first I thought the beeping was a kitchen appliance but when I went upstairs I saw smoke and realised that it was a fire. It's a lesson learnt and I would certainly advise everyone to get a smoke alarm after this."
The officer in charge at this incident was Wilmslow Watch Manager Neil Brookes.
He said "We were able to catch this fire early because Karen was alerted to it by the upstairs smoke alarm. She stayed calm, shut the door on the flames, got herself and her daughter to safety and called us out.
"It appears that a laptop may have been left running on the bed and had overheated causing this fire. I would urge people to make sure that they do not leave electrical devices plugged in and on charge where they can overheat.
"If you need to charge devices then please put them on a hard surface such as a table and make sure that air can circulate around them. Do not leave then charging overnight or when you are not at home.
"The majority of laptops draw air through grills on the underside of the unit so by keeping them on a hard flat surface such as a tray or a table avoids the possibility of overheating and them starting a fire. They should also be shut down when not in use."
