Fire chiefs warn homeowners to cover mirrors to reduce fire risk amid heatwave

Homeowners must cover mirrors and move glass decorations to reduce the risk of house fires during the heatwave, fire chiefs have warned.

Safety advice has been issued amid a continuing heatwave, urging residents not to leave items such as crystals, glass bottles or mirrors exposed as they could spark a blaze.

The public have been advised to keep shaving and make-up mirrors out of direct sunlight as they can magnify the sun’s rays onto combustible items like blinds and curtains, causing them to ignite.

It comes after a number of serious incidents have been reported to local authorities where property has been damaged after a reflective object has caused a fire.

Fire services in Cambridgeshire, Dorset, Nottinghamshire, Merseyside and Staffordshire are among those who have recently issued guidance to prevent outbreaks.

Residents' associations have also notified their tenants to keep vigilant after a spate of fires in London during the heatwave.

In the wake of 20 large fires that have hit the capital over the last two weeks, Tower Hamlets Homes has issued fire safety tips to householders.   

John Kitchener, from Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Always keep reflective items such as mirrors away from direct sunlight.

"Many people don’t realise that sunlight can be extremely powerful and if reflected off the surface of a mirror it can produce enough heat to ignite flammable materials.”

West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service have also alerted homeowners to the dangers of glass on window sills, after they were called to fight a blaze at a  bungalow in Bognor Regis. The home was gutted by a fire that was started due to sunlight shining through a glass ornament in a living room window.

The Fire Brigade Union found that fire incidents in England have increased by nine per cent for the year ending September 2017.

There are fears that the number of these incidents will soar if members of the public are not more careful about their behaviour over the summer period.

The London Fire Brigade also warned people to properly discard glass containers in bins, following a large grass fire near Heathrow Airport over the weekend, which required fifteen fire engines to put out.

The warnings follow on from previous guidelines which advised homeowners to paint their property white to protect themselves from heat waves.

Danielle Cotton, London fire brigade commissioner, said: “The ground is extremely dry at the moment and grassland and parks will act like a tinderbox when exposed to even the smallest of sparks.

She added: “We are calling on the public to take steps to prevent grass fires: don’t drop cigarettes or matches on dry ground or out of car windows; don’t have barbeques on dry grass and don’t leave glass bottles out as they can concentrate the sun’s rays and start a blaze.”

Elsewhere, people have been advised not to leave bottles or glass in woodland areas, as there is an increased risk of a fire occurring where open ground temperatures are rising rapidly.