A woman sustained burns at a fire on Burlington Road in Fulham on Monday morning. Fire investigators believe the blaze was caused by sunlight being focussed onto a bedroom curtain by a concave shaving mirror. Part of the second floor of a terraced house was damaged by fire. The Brigade believes the woman tried to put the fire out herself before the Brigade was called.
A Brigade spokesperson said: “These sort of incidents are not as rare as you would think. We’ve seen everything from sparkly door knobs to crystal balls starting fires and in the last five years we've seen over 100 fires caused by the sun's rays.
"Our advice is to make sure that you keep mirrors, crystals, glass ornaments and other reflective items out of direct sunlight at all times.
“It’s never a good idea to try and tackle a fire yourself, it’s much safer to get out and call 999 and let firefighters deal with it.”
The Brigade’s top three sunlight safety tips are:
Four fire engines and 21 firefighters and officers from Fulham, Wandsworth, Chelsea and Hammersmith attended the incident. Firefighters treated the woman for burns before the London Ambulance Service arrived on the scene.
The Brigade was called at 0741 and the fire was under control by 0842.