A house fire in Wrexham turned out to be a timely warning to residents to switch on to being electrically safe this Christmas - and to avoid overloading electrical sockets, especially as decorations start to go up in time for the festive season.

Firefighters called to a washing machine fire at a property in Henblas Road, Rhostyllen at 12.34hrs on Monday 2^nd December arrived to find a total of 14 kitchen appliances running off the same electrical socket.

"These residents were lucky - they smelled smoke when the washing machine overheated and called us for assistance. The damage could have been worse if they had been out at the time or even more serious if they had been asleep in their beds," said Steve Houghton from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

In February this year the Griffith family of seven were rescued through their window following an electrical fire in their Barmouth home and later featured in a campaign by North Wales Fire and Rescue Service to appeal to residents across the region to 'Get switched on to fire safety!'

Gary Brandrick, Senior Fire Safety Manager for North Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: "So many residents use old or dangerous electrical items and overload their sockets, causing a potentially fatal fire risk. We attend around 470 accidental fires in dwellings each year and electricity or electrical items are responsible for over 300 of these fires.

"Around 90 of these fires are due to electrical faults - but the majority are caused by misuse of the electrical items. It's important to operate appliances according to the manufacturers' instructions and to check electrical items and leads for signs of damage or wear.

"Everyone thinks that a fire will never happen to them - but there are many stories like that in Rhostyllen and in Barmouth which show that fires such as these can happen to anyone. My advice is to get prepared and stay safe.

"To help avoid overloading sockets - give our 'ampage' calculator on our website and facebook page a go. It tells you if you are in danger of overloading and helps you to stay electrically safe."

For advice on electrical fire safety and to try out our new ampage calculator to tot up your appliances, please visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk or <www.facebook.com/Northwalesfireservice.

For a free home fire safety check, where new smoke alarms will be fitted where needed totally free of charge, please call the 24 hour hotline on 0800 1691243, email cfs@nwales-fireservice.org.uk, visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk or text or text 88365, prefixing the message with the word HFSC.