In the latter stages of July, the UK has been experiencing some great weather, and that hasn’t excluded Plymouth or the county of Devon. It has been incredibly warm, with temperatures hitting 33 degrees Celsius, and residents of Plymouth have been making good use of it.

Enjoying hot afternoons with sandy beaches and sizzling barbecues are great ways to take advantage of the momentary appearance of the sun, but these things can also go wrong. In one case, on July 17th, a flat rooftop was set on fire after a barbecue broke out in flames.

The incident occurred as the residents of the three-storey home in Plymouth were enjoying a barbecue – like many other people across the city – on the flat rooftop of their home, when the flames from the portable barbecue spread to the roof timbers and set the roof on fire.

When two firefighter crews from Greenbank Plymouth and one crew Crownhill arrived at the scene, they found the fire continuing to burn on top of the roof and the roof timbers had caught on fire as well.

Using hose reel jets, they were able to put out the fire on top of the roof. To be safe, they used thermal imaging cameras to ensure the fire had not spread to other areas of the property.

In the end, the property sustained about five square meters of damage on the rooftop, but the rest of the area was left undamaged. Thankfully the residents, who live in the home on Addison Road off North Hill in Plymouth, were not hurt, but they were given fire safety advice by the fire crew for future reference.

Flat roofs have the advantage that they can be used as an extra outside space, but care must be taken when residents are up there as the height is a hazard as can be incidents with things like barbecues. However, in the case that a repair is needed in the Wakefield area, DPR Roofing here in Wakefield can offer high quality repair services as well as full installation of flat roofs. If you’d like more information, feel free to give us a call on 01924 640019.