Fire safety was the missing ingredient

A trip to the supermarket to get a missing ingredient midway through cooking a meal proved costly for an Alexandra man this morning.

Two fire appliances and about 20 firefighters were called to a house fire on the corner of Ventry and Shannon Sts at 10.52am.

Chief fire officer Russell Anderson said the fire started after a man went to New World to get a missing ingredient for the meal he was cooking and left a pot on the stove.

The mistake proved costly, as the fire spread from the kitchen into the roof cavity.

It could have been worse if a contractor for Delta had not been in the area and turned off power to the property before firefighters arrived.

Mr Anderson said apart from smoke damage the impact had been contained to the kitchen and roof cavity.

At 11.45am firefighters were at the scene lifting roofing iron, and smoke was still escaping from the ceiling cavity.

The property's owner, Helen-Louise Tetlow, who does not live at the address, said the blaze served as a reminder to always keep an eye on what you are cooking.