Event hit by chip pan fire.

The heat was turned up on a Red Cross fundraising event when fire support officers had to leave to go to a real fire.

The team of volunteers, raising funds for Red Cross Week, had just finished decorating their support vehicle in Cardiff city centre when they were called to a chip pan fire at a home in Tonyrefail.

Vic Matthews, fire victim support officer for the Red Cross, said: 'It was the last thing in the world we expected. He said the homeowner had done the right thing before they arrived.

'By putting a wet cloth over the pan and turning off the cooker he had done a great deal to minimise the fire but he was very shaken up.'

The victim support vehicle was launched by the Red Cross five years ago and provides support to victims of fire.