House fire caused by dressing table mirror

A fire caused by a mirror on a dressing table has badly damaged a first floor bedroom of a house in Oak Bank, Scotby.

An elderly couple in their 80’s live in the property and managed to escape the building when smoke alarms were activated.

The dressing table where the make-up mirror was standing was right next to a double glazed window which may have helped to magnify the sunlight and cause the fire.

Mr Sansom, from Carlisle Fire Station said: “The fire was confined to a first floor bedroom. On closer inspection, we realised it had been caused by sunlight reflecting off a make-up mirror on the dressing table and being magnified on to curtain fabric. There was nothing else which could have caused it. The fire then spread to the dressing table. I have only known something like this happen on a few other occasions in my 24 years with the fire service. It requires so many variables to fall into place, including the angle of the sun and the positioning of the combustible items.”

The fire service have warned people to take extra care, especially with convex and concave shaving and make-up mirrors to avoid fires starting in this way. These mirrors should be kept out of direct sunlight and never be left on window sills.