News

THINK AGAIN ABOUT HOT STRIPPERS

Firefighters today warned of the dangers of using blow torches to strip paint from window frames following a serious fire in Hythe Road in Ashford. 

Terry Hardie, Watch manager at Ashford Fire Station explained “This could very easily have spread to the roof of the building and that would have resulted in catastrophic damage to the house.â€?   

The incident was caused by burning paint off of the windows prior to re-painting.  This accidentally ignited the window frame which in turn spread very quickly through the cavity walls and then o­n to the entire south facing wall of the semi-detached property o­n all four floors.

“We had to remove all the windows, some eight in all, to gain access to the cavity. Terry Hardie continued  “We would appeal to anyone who might be thinking of using such a way of removing old paint, to think again and perhaps use o­ne of the many chemical applications that can do the same job but with no risk of fire.  The trouble is that the frames are very dry and the cavities full of flammable cobwebs and the fire spreads with great speed. "

It took  fire crews two hours to put out the fire and make the house safe. 


If you would like a home fire safety check which includes the supply and fitting of smoke alarms free of charge, please contact your local fire station, telephone numbers can be found o­n our website www.kent.fire-uk.org.