“Unusual” fire injures two residents in New Cross

Photo: Germaine Arnold

A fire broke out this afternoon in a flat in New Cross, leaving two people with minor injuries.

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) were called to an incident in a first-floor flat at 257 New Cross Road at 3.58pm .

A spokesperson for LFB at the scene said the fire appeared to have started when a resident had been using expanding foam filler to stop mice entering the property.

“Mice had probably been chewing through the wires in the hole. When they sprayed the expanding foam into the hole it has ignited”, he said.

There were two people in the property at the time when the fire broke out.

The LFB spokesperson described the injuries as, “very minor, a bit like a steam burn. There will probably be no long term damage”

The residents of the property were taken to hospital and were unavailable for comment.

There will be an investigation into the causes of the fire, but the LFB spokesperson at the scene said, “It is unusual. I’ve never seen a fire caused by expanding foam before, if that does prove to be the cause.”

The damage to the property was limited to the kitchen but the entire building had been evacuated as a precaution, with many residents waiting on the street outside.

Lovett Brooks, who lives in the second floor flat above said, “I was at work when I got a call saying that my house was on fire so I came straight back to see.”

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