Kitchen gutted in blaze at city house

A KITCHEN was gutted and the ground floor of a terraced house damaged after a fire broke out in a Leicester home.

Emergency services were called to a property in Walnut Street, near Leicester Royal Infirmary and the Tigers’ Welford Road rugby ground, in the early hours of yesterday.

Crews from the city’s Central and Western fire stations attended the incident.

The alarm was raised at 12.19am, with firefighters concerned that several people may have been trapped inside the building.

Further fire appliances were requested. However, on arrival, all persons were accounted for outside.

A spokesman for the fire service said crews spent more than an hour fighting the fire. “We received a call at 12.19am to a fire in a terraced property in Walnut Street.

“On arrival, the incident commander requested further fire engines as there were potentially persons inside the building.”

Leicestershire Police and East Midlands Ambulance Service were also requested to attend.

They added that the occupants of the house “had evacuated before fire crews arrived and were being checked by an ambulance crew”.

Firefighters used breathing gear to enter the three-storey building and the blaze was extinguished using one main water jet and two hose reels.

The gas and electric supply to the house were also isolated by fire crews.

The fire service spokesman said: “At 1.51am crews confirmed that the fire was extinguished and crews were using a positive ventilation fan to ventilate the property.”

A fire investigation team has visited the property and the cause has been given as accidental, but the spokesperson could not be more specific.

The kitchen of the property was badly damaged, with moderate fire damage to the ground floor living room and smoke damage to the remainder of the ground floor and part of the first floor.

None of the occupants required hospital treatment.