Real life Mog the cat starts Sheffield house fire by walking on hob

In scenes echoing this year’s Sainsbury’s Christmas advert featuring Mog the cat, recently voted the nation’as favourite festive commercial, the blaze started at 4.30am today when the cat’s owners were asleep.

A plastic tool-box caught fire after the pet, which the family have named Smog, walked across the halogen hob in the middle of the night.

Fortunately the family of four managed to get out safely after being woken by a smoke alarm.

The fire, on Foxwood Avenue, was already out by the time firefighters arrived, but they used specialist equipment to ventilate the property.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: “They are pretty certain the cat did do it, but fortunately it was quite a small fire.

“The kitchen was heavily smoke-logged, but the fire was out by the time crews arrived.”

Area Manager Steve Helps added: “Smoke alarms are one of the best ways of preventing deaths and injuries in house fires.

“If a fire does start, smoke alarms can give you an early warning, giving you the vital extra seconds needed to escape.

“But smoke alarms only save lives if they are working properly. To ensure your smoke alarms are working when you need them, test them regularly by holding down the ‘test’ button until it beeps.”

In the Sainsbury’s Christmas advert, Mog the cat manages to destroy a kitchen on Christmas Eve in a series of unfortunate incidents, but ends out being praised as the hero of the hour for accidentally alerting the fire brigade.

The Sainsbury’s Mog toy made for the company’s Christmas advertising campaign has officially sold out in all its stores.