Lingerie Boss Michelle Mone Fights Home Fire

Lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone escaped unhurt after sunlight caused a small fire in her home. The 43-year-old founder of the Ultimo underwear company was at home in London's Mayfair when rays from the sun reflected off a mirrored table and set a bean bag alight. She tweeted: OMG sun coming through the window, bean bag next to mirror table ... bean bag has just gone on fire. Incredible how a house fire can start.'' Mone put the fire out herself and emergency services did not attend yesterday's incident. London Fire Brigade (LFB) warned about the dangers of fires from direct sunlight, saying it had dealt with 125 blazes caused by the sun's rays over the last five years. The number of incidents peaked in 2013 at 34, and crews have tackled two such fires this year already. Last July a fire broke out at a house in Clapham, south west London, after sunlight was refracted through a crystal door knob, setting a dressing gown alight. Earlier that year firefighters were called to Romford in north east London when light reflected off a crystal ball set light to curtains, while in 2013 crews tackled a blaze in Enfield, north London, which started when sunlight reflected off a vanity mirror on to curtains. An LFB spokesman said:These incidents don't only happen in the summer, as shown by Ms Mone's fire, and our statistics show that five fires have been caused that way in this winter alone.'' Charlie Pugsley, from the brigade's fire investigation unit, said: These sort of fires are not as rare as you would think. I've seen everything from sparkly door knobs to crystal balls starting fires.Crystal and glass ornaments and items such as mirror tables should be kept out of direct sunlight. We wouldn't advise that people put fires out themselves but it is good to see that Ms Mone is not injured. This shows these fires are not an urban myth. Also make sure that you have a working smoke alarm on every level of your home.''