The Fire and Rescue NSW Cobar Station 256 crew have issued a warning to local resi-dents about the dangers of not properly dis-posing of coals from wood heaters.
The Cobar crew responded to a report of a house fire in Morrison Street at 4am on Sunday morning.
Upon arrival the brigade found the front en-trance to the house was alight and the house was full of smoke.
The two occupants, alerted by a working smoke alarm, had evacuated safely along with a pet.
Deputy captain Alex Lennon said the cause of the fire appears to have come from coals that had been cleaned out of an inside fire place almost 24 hours beforehand. They were left on the front porch, reignited and started the fire.
“Coals can be cold enough to handle without gloves but once in contact with fresh cool air, can smolder enough to reignite any unburnt fuels and become hot enough to start a fire on anything they’re sat in, on or near,” Deputy Captain Lennon said.
“Coals can smolder unnoticed for days and days, never trust cold coals.”
He offered the following advice: Always water down your coals; do not place coals in, on or near combustible material like a plastic bucket or your garbage bin.
“This incident could have ended in extensive property damage, or worse, loss of life,” he said.
“Smoke alarms woke the residents which allowed them to act fast prior to our arrival.
“It saved the house and their lives.”
