Firefighters called to house blaze in busy Northampton street criticise poor car parking in the area

Fire crews were called to a house blaze in a busy residential street in Northampton last night – but their response was made “unnecessarily difficult”.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) was called to reports of a fire at a house in multiple occupation property in Cowper Street at just after 11pm on Wednesday (January 25).

An NFRS spokesman said: “On arrival crews found a fire had started as a result of an electrical fault with a shower unit. The fire had spread into the loft space causing damage in the roof void and to ceilings.

"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used a hose reel jet and small tools to extinguish the fire and a thermal imaging camera to ensure that there were no further hotspots.”

Thankfully no-one was injured, say NFRS.

The NFRS spokesman added: “Firefighters and officers who attended the incident last night would like to remind people to consider where they park their vehicles, as cars double parked on an adjacent street made accessing the property on Cowper Street unnecessarily difficult.”

A crew returned to the property this morning (Thursday, January 26) at just after 7.30am to carry out an after fire inspection and returned a little later to provide residents with fire prevention information.