As fires in homes are beginning to be lit, the team at Bridport Fire Station are highlighting the dangers, especially for thatched properties.

Firefighters were called out to an incident yesterday (Wednesday) and illustrated a social media post about the call out with an archive photo of a large fire at a thatched property to show the devastating consequences of what could happen and to grab people's attention to read the post and safety advice.

A crew was called to an alarm sounding at a home in Burton Bradstock just before 7pm.

On arrival, they were met by a member of the public and the homeowner who stated the house initially had a slight amount of smoke, possibly due to the open fire that was lit and this had triggered the alarm.

After carrying out an inspection of the house, firefighters extinguished the fire and used a chimney kit and thermal imaging camera to ensure the chimney wasn't blocked or had any burning embers trapped. The owner was advised not to use the fire until the chimney had been inspected by a qualified person.

A spokesman for Bridport Fire Station said: "If you have an open fire in your thatched property, when the fire is alight check the loft space occasionally to make sure there is no smoke leaking from cracks, defective brickwork or mortar joints.

"If you use a real fire in your home you shouldn't have any smoke inside the property. It should all go up and out of the chimney. If you do have smoke in your property and the alarms are sounding then there is a fault or fire somewhere. This is why the fire was extinguished and the chimney stack checked.

"The picture is for illustration purposes only and gets people reading the entire post and taking onboard any safety advice.

"So fit alarms, have your chimney swept regularly and inspect for damage."