Wood Burner Causes House Fire Near Oxford

Wood burners are perfect to create that cozy winter feeling. The smell and the heat somehow far more atmospheric than the clinical efficiency of central heating. Wood burners could be said to be a romantic heat source for the home but they come with their own hazards as we are reminded by a house fire near Oxford just between Christmas and new year.

Incident commander watch manager for Oxfordshire fire service said that neighbours called them after hearing alarms going off in the empty house. This highlights the importance that along with any heat sources and electrical devices wood burners should not be left unattended as they are a significant fire hazards.

The other important lesson that can be learned from this incident is one of the most basic foundations of fire safety – if heat sources and potential fuel sources are kept separate a fire cannot occur. In this case the wood was stored too close to the wood burner itself and so caught fire.

When conducting fire risk assessments at work, one of their principal functions is to identify fuel sources and ignition sources and therefore how to manage each in order to prevent fire. Risk assessments are not required at home but with this in mind – keeping ignition sources and fuel separate – it is easy to use common sense in order to prevent such accidents from happening in the home. Fire risk assessments can sound a little intimidating but they are really just a tool to focus and a paper record of common sense best practice.

If you need help with risk assessments at work please feel free to contact us here at Fire & Electrical Safety Ltd. If you would like further assistance with fire risk assessment at home then here is a link to our non-commercial guide:

Risk Assessment Form https://fireandelectrical.co.uk/docs/domestic-fire-risk-assessment-form.pdf

Risk Assessment notes https://fireandelectrical.co.uk/docs/domestic-fire-risk-assessment-notes.pdf