Student flat fire in Bristol city centre ‘caused by air fryer’

An air fryer is believed to be the cause of a fire in a student flat which resulted in the building being evacuated and city centre road closed. Avon and Fire Service crews from Temple and Bedmnister were called to the incident in St Stephens Street on Saturday night at 10.33pm.

Carrie Hale, managing director of Central Chambers, took a picture of the firefighters attending to the blaze with turntable ladder. She said the road was closed while the emergency services dealt with the incident.

Avon and Fire Rescue Service said the cause of the fire was accidently started due to a problem with an air fryer. Air fryers are viewed as having a much lower fire risk than fat fryers.

The statement from Avon and Fire Rescue Service said: “Crews from Temple and Bedminster were called to reports of a fire at 22:33. On arrival, crews found a fire in the kitchen of a student flat.

“With two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus, crews used one high pressure hose reel, gas monitor and a positive pressure ventilation fan to extinguish the fire and clear smoke.

“Also in use were smoke curtains and a turntable ladder for incident observation. The cause of the incident was thought to have been acccidental ignition due to an air fryer.”

Only a few hours after the fire, crews from both Temple and Bedminster returned to the city centre to deal with a crash with one person trapped underneath a vehicle in Baldwin Street.

The incident happened at 1.26am. The injured person was taken care of by South West Ambulance Service.