Bungalow destroyed by fire from stove

A man who fell asleep with a pan on the stove was today counting the cost after it caught fire and spread, destroying his home.

Thick black smoke billowed across Oxley Moor Road, Wolverhampton, near the junction with the A449 Stafford Road, as fire crews battled for more than an hour to extinguish the blaze.

Click on the image on the right to see more pictures from the scene

The street was closed for around three hours between Beech Road and Probert Road as flames consumed the bungalow, gutting the inside and leaving just three outside walls still standing.

The owner, believed to be in his 60s, escaped before crews arrived and was taken to New Cross Hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation. Firefighters from Fallings Park and Tettenhall stations were called at around 2.15pm yesterday.

Crew commander Dean Marandola said the smoke had meant visibility along the road was poor, so they had decided to close it off to motorists.

"The flames were coming out of the roof and thick black smoke was coming out," he said. "He was cooking himself something to eat, left it unattended and fell asleep. It's a story we hear a lot but unfortunately in this case it has gutted his home."

The road reopened at around 5.30pm and fire crews remained at the scene throughout the evening damping down the bungalow.

In a separate fire last night, people living near a garage deliberately set ablaze at a Black Country motor company have been warned to take precautions to protect themselves against asbestos sheets burned in the fire. The fire broke out in timber stored in the garage at Compton Court Motors, Park Road, Netherton, at about 7.20pm.

Firefighters were also called to another blaze in the living room of a Wolverhampton home after a suspected arson attack.Two crews attended an address in Vicarage Road, Parkfields, shortly before 9.30pm yesterday. The fire was out by around 10.10pm.