Ditching the chip pan

Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is urging people to ditch the chip pans for a safer alternative as part of National Chip Week (16th – 22nd February).

Nearby Crewe is one of the top three towns for chip pan and deep fat fryer fires in the county. Frying chips can be a major fire hazard and as part of the Fire Kills campaign the Service is urging Cheshire chip lovers to take care when indulging in one of the nations favourite foods.

Make sure you enjoy National Chip Week, cook safely and know what to do if your chip pan catches fire.

A Crewe woman had a lucky escape when she fell asleep after putting her chip pan on last year.
The woman was woken by her smoke alarm and went into the kitchen where the pan was ablaze. She put a wet blanket on top of it but the weight of the blanket caused the pan to fall off the cooker and she was splashed with fat causing minor burns to her arm.

She then closed the door, left the house, and called 999.

Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went into the house and used one hose reel to extinguish the fire. A large fan was then used to clear the smoke.

The woman had suffered some smoke inhalation and minor burns to her arm and was taken to hospital to be checked over.

Crewe Watch Manager Simon Gildea said: "Fortunately we had fitted smoke alarms in the lady's house a few years ago and this alerted her to the fire, giving her that vital time to get out the house before it was too late. I hope this case highlights to people the importance of having smoke alarms and encourages them to regularly check they are working.

"I want people to think about this case during National Chip Week and ideally don't use a chip pan, oven chips are a safer and healthier way to enjoy your favourite meal, but if you do choose to deep fat fry please don't leave the pan unattended. If your pan does catch light, don't throw water over it – get out, stay out and call 999."

Last year, over half of all accidental fires in the home started in the kitchen. With nearly three billion meals accompanied by chips being eaten each year, there's perhaps little surprise that chip pans cause around 6% of fires in the home.

If you do decide to deep fat fry your chips – whether they're 'chip shop style' chips, French fries, crinkle cut chips or curly fries – these all-year-round simple safety tips could help reduce the risk of fire:

• Use a temperature controlled deep-fat fryer (it'll help make sure the fat doesn't get too hot).
• Check that it doesn't overheat- hot oil can catch fire easily.
• Don't overfill a chip pan with oil – never fill it more than one-third full.
• Never throw water on a chip pan fire.
• Don't cook after drinking alcohol.
• Have an escape route in place in the event of fire.
• Don't take risks by tackling a fire. Get out, stay out and call 999.
• Get a smoke alarm and test it monthly

For further advice on fire safety visit www.cheshirefire.gov.uk

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