Check your sockets warning after Kettering wooden gazebo goes up in flames

A weekend blaze in a Kettering back garden has sparked safety advice from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue to check electric pugs and sockets.

Neighbours armed with hoses rushed to help after the wooden summerhouse in Neale Avenue caught fire, but firefighters had to be called to the fire on Sunday morning.

It is believed that an electrical fault caused the fire that spread to a nearby fence.

A spokeman for Northants Fire and Rescue said: "An appliance from Kettering Fire Station was called at 1.04am on April 4 to reports of a fire on Neale Avenue in Kettering.

"Crews used two hose reel jets to extinguish flames on a wooden gazebo that had caught fire and had spread to neighbouring fencing.

"The fire is believed to have been caused by faulty electrics in the gazebo. Firefighters isolated the electric that was running to the gazebo, and offered prevention advice to the occupants."

The fire service added safety advice for outdoor plugs and sockets:

⚫ Regularly run these checks over your outdoor plugs and sockets:

⚫ Check plugs or sockets are not hot - scorch marks, fuses that often blow, or flickering lights are all are signs of loose wiring or other electrical problems

⚫ Check plugs are not badly wired - any coloured wires sticking out could come loose and debris could also get into the plug

⚫ Check the wires are held firmly in place inside the plug

⚫ Check sockets are not overloaded - plugging too many electrical appliances into one socket can lead to overheating

⚫ Always use sockets safely - it's better to use a bar adapter (multi-board) on a lead than a block adaptor

⚫ Only use one adaptor per socket - don't plug one adaptor into another and try to keep to one plug per socket

⚫ Check cables are not getting frayed and damaged - make sure the outer covering of all power leads is in good condition and replace if necessary