Updated
Firefighters have issued a warning to cigarette smokers after two “freak” accidents in the regional mining hub of Kalgoorlie-Boulder over the weekend.
They say a woman who fell asleep while smoking in bed on Saturday night almost burned down her rental property after her mattress caught alight.
Firefighters responded to the house fire just before midnight and stopped the blaze from spreading to adjoining properties.
The woman, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, but she is now homeless after firefighters cordoned off the WA Housing Authority property.
Firefighters estimated the blaze caused $5,000 in smoke damage to the interior of the house.
Ute burns down after discarded butt causes fire
In a separate incident on Sunday morning, a man’s ute was destroyed in Boulder after he flicked a cigarette butt out the window.
The butt landed in the rear tray, causing cardboard boxes and a wooden bed to catch fire, burning the ute to the ground.
That incident was reported at 11.44am, about 12 hours after the house fire callout.
Fires caused by cigarettes a ‘freak accident’
Kalgoorlie Fire Station officer Martin Junker said it was unusual to see two fires caused by cigarettes in such a short period of time.
“It doesn’t happen frequently and it’s very rare for us to get two examples in the course of 24 hours, but it just goes to prove it does happen and it’s a hazard, so if you’re a smoker be aware of what you’re doing with the butts,” Mr Junker said.
“I’d say in both cases, it was probably a freak accident.
“We rarely get anything started by a cigarette butt, but to have two examples in a day just highlights the fact there still is a big risk of something like this occurring, so just take a bit of extra care.”
Mr Junker, who has been a firefighter for more than 30 years, said he had seen a fatal incident that was caused by smoker falling asleep in bed.
“Very early in my career I responded to a fire where a person was fatally injured due to smoking and we know he was because the other occupants of the house said he smoked in bed regularly,” he said.
“There was nothing else in the bedroom to have caused the fire and everyone else escaped the house, except him, so it has been known to happen.”