Fire service bid to beat kitchen nightmares

A MAJOR campaign to curb kitchen blazes has been launched, after firefighters revealed were called out to almost 200 cooking related incidents in the last three years.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has attended 183 Rotherham kitchen fires since 2013, causing 40 injuries and one death.

Most blazes were caused by unattended cooking, overheating chip pans or fat and grease building up in dirty ovens.

Alcohol, drugs and mental health issues like dementia also contributed to cooking catastrophes.

Steve Helps, the fire service’s head of prevention, said: “The cooking fires we go to range from burnt toast to serious blazes which gut houses and destroy lives.

“But what all these incidents have in common is that they are nearly always entirely preventable.”

He added: “Whether it’s remembering to keep an eye on your cooking, giving your oven a good scrub or buying a takeaway after a night out rather than attempting to cook, this campaign is all about asking residents to take some simple steps to protect themselves and those they love.”

The service’s top three tips for cutting out kitchen nightmares are:

Clean ovens and grill pans regularly to avoid a build up of fat and grease.
Replace old-fashioned chip pans — use oven chips or thermostat-controlled fryers instead.
Don’t try cooking if you’ve been out drinking — buy a takeaway instead.