Warning to take care in the kitchen

Most fires in the home start in the kitchen - so Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is reminding local people to take extra care when cooking.

Since 1 October, the Service has been called to 23 cooking related kitchen fires in Wiltshire, most of which started either as a result of carelessness with appliances or people being distracted.

These relate to seven fires in North Wiltshire, six in West Wiltshire, and five apiece in Kennet and Salisbury.

Case manager Jackie Tozer said: “Unattended cooking seems to be a common thread among some of the incidents, including actually going out of the house. A couple of the incidents have been where the wrong ring has been switched on and two of them have been where items such as a child’s plastic seat or a dishcloth have been left on the cooker hob which has then been switched on.”

She added: “Make sure you have a working smoke detector, as this can be all the difference between being safe and being in danger, and if you do have a kitchen fire, be sensible - get everyone out of your home and call the Fire & Rescue Service.”

The following safety tips should always be followed:

• When cooking, take care if you're wearing loose clothing as it can easily catch fire.
• Keep electrical leads, tea towels and cloths away from the cooker and hob.
• Never leave children alone in the kitchen. Keep matches, lighters and saucepan handles where children can't reach them and fit a safety catch on the oven door.
• Keep the oven, hob, toaster and grill clean - a build-up of fat, crumbs or grease can easily catch fire.
• Don’t use a toaster underneath a kitchen cabinet as the rising heat can catch any residual grease on the base of the unit.
• Don’t use matches or lighters to light gas cookers - spark devices, which you can buy from hardware stores, are safer.
• Don’t leave pans on the hob when you're not around. Take them off the heat if you have to leave the kitchen.
• Don’t put anything that is made of metal or is metallic inside the microwave.
• When you have finished cooking, make sure you switch off the oven and hob.

A range of home fire safety advice can be found on the Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service website, www.wiltsfire.gov.uk

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