House fire near St Austell suspected of starting from solar panels
Mar 2018Published 14 Oct 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor
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What happened
A fire broke out in the roof space of a house in Trewoon, near St Austell in Cornwall, on Sunday afternoon, 25 March 2018. Fire officials said the blaze began in the roof space and the occupant, a man in his 60s, got out after neighbours alerted him to smoke. The house had solar panels on the roof. The incident commander said their weight meant they could collapse through the roof, so firefighters could not enter until the panels were made safe.
Thirty-five firefighters from four stations, with two specialist teams, attended at the height of the incident. Crews used an aerial ladder platform to damp down the fire from above, and it was not extinguished until about 6pm. The fire affected two properties, and a neighbouring property was evacuated as a precaution. Many homes lost power into the night and the main road through the village was closed. No one was hurt.
The source reports that the fire may have been caused by the solar panels, but no cause had been confirmed when the report was published.
Contributing factors
The source reports that the fire may have been caused by solar panels. A social media post quoted in the article described the panels as new, and an investigation was to be launched. The fire was in the roof space, which is difficult to access, and the weight of the panels meant firefighters could not enter until they were made safe. A solid wall between the homes stopped the fire spreading to the next roof.
Lessons learned
- Fire plans for buildings with rooftop solar should assume that panels may add structural load and collapse risk, and that roof access may be delayed until the array is made safe.
- Installers and owners should check that the roof structure can carry the panels and that the DC and AC wiring has been inspected after installation, particularly on newly fitted systems.
- Investigators should record the installation details of any PV system involved in a roof fire, so that the cause can be established and shared with the industry.
More lessons on structural integrity and turbines, maintenance, inspection and ageing assets, investigation and fleet-wide checks, from every incident on the register.
Source
Published 2026-10-14. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.
