West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has urged people to take extra care when cooking after attending six kitchen fires in the space of six hours.
Two crews were called to Cobbles Crescent, Northgate, where firefighters used breathing apparatus as they tackled a fire which left a house smoke-logged.
The fire, which broke out on Monday (March 30) shortly after 1pm, was believed to have started after a cooker hob was accidentally knocked on setting light to items left on the hob top.
A spokesman for the fire service said the house was badly damaged by fire and smoke. Crews had already attended a blaze in Boxgrove and were later called to similar fires in Yapton, Bognor and two in Worthing.
Watch Commander Lee Walton said: “If there is limited worktop space it can be tempting to leave things on the hob top, but it’s not worth the risk. Knocking a hob dial on sounds like a freak incident, but it’s happened on a number of occasions in West Sussex recently. The best piece of advice I can offer is to keep your cooking area completely clear and, if you have an electric cooker, switch it off at the wall when you’re not using it.”