02.11.22 – Tumble Dryer Fire in Abbey Hulton, Spode Museum Building Project, SFRS release dog from Rabbit Hole, SOT Older Peoples Strategy

An overheated tumble dryer caused a house fire in Stoke-on-Trent yesterday morning.  Firefighters attended a residential address off Priory Road, Abbey Hulton, shortly before 7.55.
On arrival, crews found the Residents of the property had evacuated and the fire had been extinguished. No one was injured.

Upon an inspection, the fire was deemed to be an accidental ignition as a result of the tumble dryer overheating.

Darren Jackson, Station Manager at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, said:

“Overloaded sockets and faulty electrical appliances cause over 7,000 house fires in Staffordshire every year. We urge residents to ensure they are aware of the risks associated with electrical appliances and make sure they adhere to the guidelines.

“It is always best practice to ensure your electrics have a British or European safety mark and to ensure plug sockets or extension leads are not overloaded.

To read more on electrical safety, visit: Electrical safety (staffordshirefire.gov.uk).

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A huge building project has started at the Spode Museum in Stoke restoring a large disused nightclub space into a new museum store. The Spode Museum collection is one of the largest and most important ceramics collections in the country and has been locked away in storage since the Spode factory went into administration in 2008.

Over 20,000 items will return to their historic factory site allowing the museum to assess and catalogue the collection and eventually make it available for the public to once again enjoy.

The cost of renovation has been secured from Historic England and Stoke-on-Trent City Council and is being used to transform the old INSET nightclub into a space worthy of housing an important ceramics collection.

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Fire crews have helped rescue a dog that was stuck in a rabbit hole in South Staffordshire on Monday.

The dog, Cheddar’s owners reported that he had entered a rabbit hole and got stuck underground.

With firefighters unable to get to the dog, they dug holes with the aim of retrieving Cheddar.

Fire crews remained at the scene for six hours but even after digging up the holes, there was still no sign of him.

However at 6am yesterday morning, Cheddar was reunited with its owners when they returned to the scene –  he was found next to one of the holes dug up by fire crews.

Sarah Coulson, one of Cheddar’s owners, said: “We would like to express our thanks to the firefighters for the efforts they put in to help retrieve Cheddar.

Station Manager Leigh Richards, said: “Crews worked extremely hard, and it was very pleasing to see Cheddar was okay.

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A new strategy to help older people in Stoke-on-Trent live well for longer is set to be approved by cabinet next week.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has drawn up proposals for the Older People’s Housing Strategy 2023-2028 which aims to support the city’s residents as they grow older.

The strategy has been developed to ensure the city council can meet the current and future needs of older people living in the city for the next five years and help residents to be as independent as possible for as long as possible.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has worked with key partners including Arc4, Saltbox, Staffordshire Housing, Deaflinks and the Alzheimer’s Society to draw up the draft proposals.

The strategy is expected to be approved at Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s cabinet meeting next Tuesday. It will then go out to consultation on Monday, November 28 for nine weeks.