Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Trenarren View, Boscoppa, St Austell at 01/01/2012 00:26

One fire appliance from St Austell attended a fire in a plastic outside storage shed. The fire was started when a lit chinese lantern landed on it, burning a hole in its roof. Fortunately, neighbours were able to put the fire out before it spread to an adjacent house.

The fire crew inspected using a thermal imaging camera to ensure the fire was out and a positive pressure ventilation fan was used to clear smoke from the house.

Chinese lanterns may look attractive when set off but incidents like this one highlight how dangerous they can be. It was very fortunate that someone had noticed that this lantern had landed, starting a fire. Had it gone undetected then the fire would have spread to the house.