Fire Risk

I don't know if anyone read in last Sunday's Telegraph about a fire in a Grade II listed house in Oxfordshire where the beautiful black lab was killed. Tears. The owners were okay, thank goodness but virtually all of their belongings were destroyed.

The fire was, apparently, caused by a wooden cabinet beside the Aga, which overheated. The allegation was that the insulation between the Aga and the cabinet was missing.

My previous Aga just had brick either side of it, so this was not an issue but that was 25 years ago. We are in the process of buying a timber framed house which has wooden base units either side of the Rayburn. Major panic. Could not bear it if anything happened to my precious Retrievers.

I will obviously ask the question to the vendor and the solicitor but what should I be checking for? Is the insulation actually in the range or between it and the adjacent units?

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thank you in advance.