Crews From Llanelli, Pontyates And Kidwelly Attend Chip Pan Fire
On Saturday, 4th June 2016, at 03:56am fire crews from Llanelli, Pontyates and Kidwelly attended a kitchen fire at a private property in Trimsaran.
The property was well alight on arrival and the fire was spreading to the next door property.
Crews extinguished the fire using 6 breathing apparatus, 1 main jet, 45mm hose, thermal imaging camera and a phase 3 Positive Pressure Ventilation Fan.
The Ambulance Service were present. Firefighters left the scene at 06:17am.
An investigation by the fire service found that an unattended chip pan was the cause of the fire.
Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is urging residents to reduce the chance of having a fatal fire in your home by throwing away their traditional chip pan.
Steve Davies, Deputy Head of Community Safety explains: “While the use of traditional chip pans has declined in recent years; in Mid and West Wales cooking related fires resulted in 40 percent of all reported fire injuries in the home last year, with chip pans still one of the leading causes.
Rather than deep frying, why not choose oven chips instead. Not only are they safer to cook but they’re lower in fat too. If you are going to fry your chips, use a thermostat-controlled deep-fat fryer, which will make sure the fat doesn´t get too hot and ignite.
With chips the nations favourite takeaway, why not visit your local chippy. If you’ve had a few drinks it’ll be much safer than cooking yourself.
If you must cook chips in a traditional chip pan, there are a few fire safety tips you can follow –
Never fill the pan more than one third full of oil.
Dry food before putting it in (water can make the oil explode).
Test the temperature with a small piece of bread or potato. If it crisps quickly, the oil is hot enough.
If the oil starts to smoke don’t put the food in. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool.
Don’t ever leave the pan unattended.
If there are flames, never throw water over the pan. It will explode.
If your chip pan does catch fire, don’t take any risks. Turn off the heat if it is safe to do so, but don’t tackle the fire yourself. Get Out, Stay Out, Call 999.
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