A CANDLE and a cigarette have caused two fires in rooms of Fenland homes in the last week - with police treating a third fire in a caravan as arson. The caravan, in Magazine Close, Murrow, was destroyed by the fire early on Monday and caused damage to a n

A CANDLE and a cigarette have caused two fires in rooms of Fenland homes in the last week - with police treating a third fire in a caravan as arson.

The caravan, in Magazine Close, Murrow, was destroyed by the fire early on Monday and caused damage to a nearby house.

A woman and her grandchild were in the house at the time, but escaped without injury.

Detective Sergeant Dave York said: "At this stage we are treating the fire as arson but we are not discounting other possible causes until all the facts are known."

A lounge in Pentelow Close, Murrow, last Wednesday, went up in smoke after a candle left burning on a sideboard set fire to flammable materials nearby.

Crews spent an hour-and-a-half tackling the fire, but the lounge was completely destroyed by fire and the rest of the house was severely smoke logged.

A bedroom, in Seabank Road, Wisbech, was also destroyed on Monday after a carelessly discarded cigarette set fire to bedding.

There were no working smoke alarms in the home and, because of this, the fire had spread rapidly before it was discovered by a resident who smelled smoke.

The room was severely damaged, with the first floor heavily smoke-logged and the ground floor suffering mild smoke damage.

Steve Robinson, station manager at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the damage could have been significantly limited at both homes if a working smoke alarm had been present.

He said: "I urge anyone who does not have a working smoke alarm to contact their local fire station for a free home fire safety check."

The fires come weeks after house fires in Oakroyd Crescent, Wisbech, caused by cooking left unattended in a kitchen, and in Southwell Road, Wisbech, also caused by a discarded cigarette.