‘Spontaneous combustion’ blamed for fire at York house

It wasn’t the biggest blaze of the year in York, but it did have one of the most unusual causes.

Firefighters from Huntington and York were called out to an incident in a home in Haxby Road at 6.26am on Saturday morning (April 21).

The fire was restricted to items in a washing basket. Crews removed the basket to the open and extinguished smouldering items using buckets of water.

The cause? Believed to be spontaneous combustion.

Two other fires

Crews dealt with two other minor fires in York on Saturday.

At 12.16pm crews from Acomb and Huntington dealt with a fire at a home off Foxwood Lane involving a section of fence and a bin.

Damage was also caused to a plastic window frame, guttering and drainpipe. The cause is believed to be smokers materials.

And at 1.42pm, Acomb and York crews were called to a tumble dryer on fire in a commercial property on Salisbury Road.

The machine was unplugged and removed to the open before the firefighters arrived. The internal drum was damaged.

The cause is thought to be an accumulation of fluff.