A warning has been issued by the fire service about leaving cooking unattended after two kitchen fires over the weekend.

On Saturday evening, fire crews were sent to a property in Willaston after a fire alarm sounded while there was another blaze on Sunday in the south of the island.

In relation to the Willaston incident, Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service station officer David Cowley said: ‘Upon arrival crews found a locked property so they proceeded to undertake external checks of the building.

‘An upstairs light was found to be on which made crews question if people were inside the property.

‘The officer in charge instructed crews to pitch a ladder to the first floor to carry out further checks where they found smoke issuing from the kitchen area.

‘Entry was forced through the front door and crews wearing breathing apparatus found a person inside.

‘Crews assisted the individual to evacuate before handing them over to our colleagues in the Ambulance Service to check them over for smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire was as a result of cooking being left unattended.’

Station officer Cowley also said crews were called to another kitchen fire in the south of the island.

He said: ‘Also, this afternoon (Sunday) crews from Malew and Rushen were dispatched to reports of a house fire in the south of the island.

‘Upon arrival the property was locked up and a neighbour advised that the owners were out. Entry was again forced and crews wearing breathing apparatus entered the property to extinguish the well-developed fire using high pressure hose reels.

‘The fire had again started in the kitchen and had developed to a point that the entire property was affected by smoke and fire.

‘Crews remained in attendance for approximately two hours to extinguish the fire and carry out decontamination.

‘Both incidents attended started in the kitchen so please be reminded to never leave cooking unattended and switch off appliances when not in use.’