Living room gutted by fire while owners out
A living room was gutted when fire ripped through a Shropshire home while the owners were out.
Ten firefighters tackled the blaze at the property in Mereside, Springfield, Shrewsbury, yesterday.
They were alerted by a member of the public shortly after 10am who had spotted smoke and flames issuing from the ground floor of the home.
Shocked owner, Claire Tudor, a mother-of-two, returned to find her living room had been gutted by fire.
She said: "I just got a call at work to say there had been a fire. Thankfully no-one was in at the time."
She added that she would be staying with relatives nearby until the damage was cleared up.
Two appliances from Shrewsbury were called to the scene and firefighters used hose reel jets and four sets of breathing apparatus to extinguish the flames.
Station manager Rob Corfield said the fire was not being treated as suspicious.
"When we arrived there was nobody in so we forced entry.
"The fire was contained to the front room which has been badly damaged.
"The rest of the house has also suffered smoke damage.
"It is too early to say what caused the fire but it is not being treated as suspicious."
The fire was out by 11am.
Meanwhile, the hot weather sparked an unusual fire at a home in Pontesbury yesterday.
Fire crews were called to a property in Minsterley Road shortly before 11am after a woman reported that the sun had reflected onto a desktop mirror causing her armchair to catch fire.
Appliances from Minsterley and Telford were called out alongside an officer from Shrewsbury but the fire was out before they arrived.
A spokeswoman for Shropshire Fire and Rescue, said: "The occupier called us because she was not able to move the armchair outside. We had to check the fire was out on arrival.
"It didn't cause much damage," she added.
