Waterford family's lucky escape as curtains almost catch fire in heatwave

placeholder image — Waterford family's lucky escape as curtains almost catch fire in heatwave

Waterford City Fire Services have issued a warning to other homeowners after one local family narrowly escaped a devastating house fire in recent days.

While warnings are being repeated due to the outdoor fire risk amid the dry spell of weather, firefighters have now moved to warn homeowners of the indoor threat caused by the sun.

A Waterford family reported their near-miss to the Fire Services, who in turn warned others to "be vigilant."

The photographs above show the window frame and curtains in a bedroom at the Waterford home singed and partially melted due to the sun.

The family were alerted to the potential danger by the burning smell throughout the house and were able to quell the situation before a fire started.

Waterford City Fire Services say the scorch marks were caused by the vanity mirror on a dresser in the room reflecting the suns rays onto the curtains.

"In this very hot prolonged period, please remove all small mirrors and similar items from windows so they do not reflect the suns rays and start a fire when you are possibly not home. This person was very lucky," the Fire Services said in a statement.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you have a story for us, sports news, an event happening in your area, or if you want to submit pictures or videos, contact the Waterford Live team via email to [email protected], or through our Facebook.