Barbecue leaves a bitter taste as garden shed catches fire in Soham

FIRE-FIGHTERS are warning about the dangers of unattended barbecues, even after the cooking has finished, following a fire in Soham on Thursday.

Two crews from Soham were called at about 1.40am to a fire on West Drive Gardens, following reports that a garden shed was engulfed in flames.

The shed also contained two propane cylinders and firefighters spent more than an hour cooling the cylinders using two hose reels before they left the scene shortly before 3am.

Fire-fighters believe that the blaze was started by a cooling barbecue.

Richard Powell, watch commander at Soham said: “The barbecue was stored behind the shed but was still hot enough to start a fire.

“When you’re finished with a barbecue use water to make sure it is completely out and completely cooled and don’t store it near to anything flammable.”