A "quick thinking" postman spotted a worrying sign through the letterbox of a property and raised the alarm to neighbours.
The Royal Mail employee was doing his round on Saturday, July 17 on Brecon Avenue in Netherton when he noticed smoke coming from a letterbox.
He quickly alerted neighbours and the fire service were called out to the property.
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The postman, who is yet to be identified, was heard telling people there was a fire in one of the houses.
Alan Condon, 54, was one of the neighbours notified by the postman after smoke appeared from the letterbox.
He told the ECHO : "[The fire service] got through the door and it was pan on the stove with no water and chicken in it would you believe? That's what it was.
"The fact is, if it wasn't for the [postman's] quick thinking and intervention, the house would have gone up in flames since there was no water left in the pan."
The owners of the house are believed to have gone out without realising they had left the pan on the stove, with chicken burning.
Civil servant Alan was enjoying the sun in his garden when he heard voices. He stuck his head over the fence to see his neighbours and the postman huddled together.
Alan said: "I popped my head over the fence and I could see people standing by the house. The postman shouted 'do you have the neighbours number? There's a fire in the house' I said 'unfortunately not'.
"He noticed the smoke, somehow from the letterbox, whether he was posting a letter or not. He looked through the letterbox and saw quite a bit of smoke and that's when he raised the alarm."
The postman waited with the neighbours until the fire service arrived.
A spokesperson for the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service told the ECHO: "We attended a property on Brecon Avenue, Netherton, on Saturday July 17. Crews were alerted at 12.42pm and on scene at 12.49pm. Three fire engines attended.
"Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the property a fire in the kitchen of the property. Once extinguished, crews used a positive pressure fan to ventilate the property.
"No one was injured and the fire is believed to have started accidentally. The kitchen suffered light smoke damage. Crews left the scene at 13.34pm."
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