Smoking office wall leaves fire crew baffled (From Bucks Free Press)

Smoking office wall leaves fire crew baffled

5:55pm Monday 24th September 2012 in News By James Nadal

FIREFIGHTERS were left scratching their heads after finding smoke coming from inside an office wall.

High Wycombe fire crews were puzzled as they sought to unearth the cause of smoke which was filling the offices at Wycombe Youth Action, St Mary Street, High Wycombe, this afternoon.

There was smoke coming from the ground-floor cavity wall, when they arrived around 2.20pm.

After investigations it emerged that a cigarette had been cast away outside the building and had landed on felt and begun burning through the wall.

High Wycombe Crew Manager Terry Johnson said: “It was certainly not a run of the mill job.

“It was percolating through the internal wall when we first got there and we couldn't locate it initially, but there was a smell of wood."

They decided to cut away the wall.

“It was a bit of a quandary until we cut away the wall, it was a bit of a head scratching moment," said Mr Johnson.

“It was caused by a discarded cigarette, we discovered. It had been thrown away and caught the felt in the partition wall outside.”

He said it was fortunate the accident occurred during office hours.

“Had they closed the offices for the day, it could have been the whole building affected,” he said.

He cautioned smokers to be careful where they leave cigarettes and to ensure they are put out properly.