Bedroom fire started by 'laser' sun beams reflecting off shaving mirror in Wraysbury

Firefighters have warned people to keep shaving mirrors away from windows after one was the cause of a bedroom fire in Wraysbury.

Three fire crews were called to a house in Copper Mill Road in Wraysbury yesterday (Friday) at 5.15pm after the sun reflected off the magnified side of a shaving mirror, starting a fire.

Calling the fire a 'slow burner', firefighters believe the small blaze started in the morning and had mostly burned itself out by the time they arrived.

Crew manager Andy Gibbons of Langley fire station warned that as the autumn approaches this kind of fire is becoming more common.

He said: "We are getting to the late part of summer where the sun is a lot lower in the sky and shines through the windows.
"It's magnified by the mirror and the beam of light becomes like a laser, and can easily cause a bit of wood or curtain to catch alight.

"The trouble is with fire anything is possible, don't keep those mirrors near windows."