Flying lantern blaze danger

Michael and Glenys Quinlivan with the lantern that set fire to their car

A FAMILY narrowly avoided a serious fire when a floating Chinese lantern set their car alight as they slept.

Glenys Quinlivan, from Higher House Road, Chadderton, was woken by firefighters after they spotted their Landrover Freelander, parked underneath the property’s front bedrooms, on fire.

Crews had initially been called to the street after another lantern had become lodged in the gutter of a neighbouring property.

Mrs Quinlivan (55), a teaching assistant, said: “We’ve been incredibly lucky. The car is parked underneath the front bedroom where both myself and my husband, Michael, were sleeping. In the other front bedroom was our four-year-old grandson.

“As we live in a cul-de-sac, we don’t get passing traffic. Tthankfully the firefighters saw the fire and alerted us.

“I dread to think what would have happened if someone hadn’t reported the other fire.

“Crew members said had the lantern landed to the rear of the car, it could have set the petrol tank on fire. We’ve had a very lucky escape.”

The lanterns are normally made from flame retardant paper and often have wires or a metal holder at their base to hold a tealight, firelighter or even paraffin-soaked paper which is then set alight, the hot air making the lantern float.

Lanterns are proving increasingly popular at wedding receptions and other celebrations.

However, Mrs Quinlivan, who will now have to pay £500 to replace the cracked windscreen and other damage, said the Chinese lanterns were posing a problem for firefighters. She said: “The crews told me that lanterns can have a metal holder with a tealight in it. But the one that burned our car had a fire lighter taped to the bottom of the lantern, with no holder.”

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service said it is investigating the incident, which happened shortly after midnight on Sunday .

Lanterns have been causing problems across the country, with the coastguard having trouble distinguishing lanterns from distress flares, and farmers have called to ban them.