Crews from Cardiff and Charlestown were called to a property in Cardiff South on Friday morning where they found smoke issuing from the building.

Firefighters forced entry and extinguished cooking food that had been left unattended. They then ventilated the unoccupied home.

Friday afternoon Lambton and Wallsend firefighters were called to a similar incident at Newcastle University, again with unattended cooking the cause. Crews ventilated the building and conducted air quality testing, prior to allowing approximately 40 evacuees to return to their accommodation block.

Fire crews from Mayfield West and Lambton attended an accommodation block again at Newcastle University for an automatic fire alarm on Monday with unattended cooking the cause.

On Tuesday firefighters from Holmesville, Cardiff and the Technical Rescue truck from Lambton were called to a house in Edgeworth after the occupant was locked out of the house while cooking. Crews forced entry and extinguished burning food stuffs in the house before the fire could take hold.

Unattended cooking is the leading cause of house fires in NSW so remember to always "Keep looking when cooking". For more fire prevention information, visit www.fire.nsw.gov.au.