A mother who accidentally left a cooker hob switched on at her Heston flat returned after picking up her children from school to discover their home was ablaze.
Four fire engines and around 20 firefighters were called to fight the flames at St Giles Close, at 3.22pm, yesterday afternoon.
The blaze, which is believed to have started when an electric chip pan melted and caught light, burned for over an hour, damaging almost half of the first floor flat.
Seventeen people left the block of flats before fire crews from Feltham, Heston and Southhall arrived.
Watch manager Phil Watkins, of Feltham Fire Station, said: "Hobs are easily switched on by accident and I'd advise people not to leave anything on or near their cookers even when they believe they are off. This could have been a lot worse."
