Fire Starts When Your Attention Stops … Ban the Pan!

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service are urging members of the public get rid of their chip pans and to replace them with deep fat fryers following a house fire on Merrivale Road last month.

Firefighters from Blue Watch Stafford attended the incident which involved a chip pan that had overheated causing it to ignite after having been left unattended. A neighbour was alerted to the fire by operating smoke alarms as no-one was in the property at the time. When the family returned home, they were met with a fire in their kitchen, a gentleman entered the kitchen and removed the pan to outside. However in doing so he sustained severe smoke inhalation and had to receive oxygen from paramedics.

Blue Watch Manager, Gary Fox, says,” Over half of home fires are caused by cooking accidents. Chip pans can cause serious fires as they very quickly overheat and then ignite – we attend numerous fires caused by people putting their chip pans on and then falling asleep or getting distracted by a phone call or someone at the door. We urge people to use deep fat fryers instead – they are much safer because they are thermostatically controlled, meaning they can’t overheat.

“In the event of a fire we advise people not to tackle chip pan fires themselves; instead they should turn off the heat, if it is safe to do so and then evacuate the property closing doors behind them and call 999.”

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service offers a free home fire risk check which can be arranged at a mutually convenient time by calling our free phone number 0800 0241 999. The visit may include swapping chip pans with deep fat fryers and
fitting free smoke alarms with a 10 year battery life to ensure that you are safe in your home.

To book a free Home Fire Risk Check contact: 0800 0241 999. For all other non emergency enquiries contact: 08451 22 11 55 or log onto: www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk or www.direct.gov.uk/firekills. In an emergency dial 999.