A COUPLE awoke to find the lounge of their house in Princes Street, Douglas, smoke logged.
Firefighters were called to the property yesterday (Monday) just before 11am.
They quickly identified the cause of the smoke using a thermal image camera - the origin of the smoke was the floor joist and floor boards smouldering in the lounge.
Two fire appliances from Douglas Station and the duty officer were sent to the incident and used a small portable water spray to extinguish the smouldering joist and flooring from underneath the floor.
The crews had to cut through the lounge floor to gain access to the seat of the fire in order to remove all burning material.
The fire had been slow burning and had gone undetected for some time which had resulted in it almost burning completely through the floor joist and burning the underneath of the floor boards.
Luckily for the couple some of the smoke had worked its way into the lounge allowing the fire to be detected.
This was very fortunate for them as they were due to leave the Island that afternoon to go on holiday and there could have been serious consequences had the fire gone undetected for any longer, the fire service said.
The cause of the fire was due to a faulty hearth which had cracked. Hot embers from the coal fire had fallen through a crack and set fire to a 10inch by 4inch joist below which in turn burnt the underside of the floorboards and set fire to the electrical cables located under the floor.
An electrician was called to make the burnt electrics safe.
Station Officer Nigel Fraser gave the following safety message:
"It is very important that at least one smoke detector is fitted in a property to give early warning in the event of a fire breaking out.
"All domestic smoke detectors should be tested regularly at least once per week and the battery should be replaced once a year.
"We cannot emphasise strongly enough the importance of having a working smoke alarm fitted in the home."
The Community Fire Safety Team can carry out home fire risk assessments free of charge and give advice on where to fit detectors.
For more fire safety advice or a free home safety visit call 647303 or visit www.iomfire.com
