Bowl of pot pourri blamed forhouse fire

Radiated sunlight from a south facing window reflected onto a mirror on a work shelf caused the fire on a bowl of dry flowers sitting onto a windowsill.

The dry petals is believed to have smouldered for up to four hours before one of the occupants of the house returned after 5pm to find that the fire had spread along the window sill. A working smoke alarm alerted him to the fire.

The fire caused damage to the kitchen/family room and extensive smoke filled the rest of the house.

The Fire and Rescue Service sent two appliances to deal with the fire.

District Commander Randal McComb said they had eliminated every other possibility for the cause of the fire and there was ‘no other obvious explanation. They had concluded that radiated sunlight on a bowl of dry flowers was the only possible reason.

“There were no obvious signs that anything really could have started the fire,” said Mr McComb.

“We ruled out smoking, an electrical fault, candles, and when we discovered where the fire had begun we realised that this could be the only explanation.

“These types of fire have happened before - so it is not unique or a freak incident,”

He said that all it can take is sun rays reflect onto a glass or magnifying glass which can increase heat and if left for a length of time can smoulder and cause a fire.

“Where it happened the sun was shining there all day,” he said.

He said that two closed interior doors had confined the fire to one area of the house preventing extensive smoke damage throughout the rest of the house.

Mr McComb urged people to be careful when leaving the house unattended for any period of time and urged householders to make sure that there is no direct sunlight shining onto magnifying glasses for long periods of time.

[email protected]