Firefighters called to 15 cooking related fires across North Wales

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service are urging members of the public to take precautions when cooking.

It comes after firefighters were called to 15 cooking related fires across the region over the weekend.

According to the service more fires start in the kitchen than anywhere else in the home.

Advice has now been issued to help reduce your risk of a cooking related fire.

These include keeping electrical leads, tea towels and clothes away from the cooker and the hob.

This is alongside not leaving your cooking unattended.

Top tips from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service include:

• 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 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.
• Angle saucepan handles so they don’t stick out from the hob, or over a naked flame.
• When you have finished cooking, make sure you switch off the oven and hob.
• Consider the installation of heat alarms or Stoveguard (an alarm that fits to electric hobs and scans it for excessive heat and smoke), both conforming to the relevant BSEN standards and positioned as per manufacturer’s instruction.
• Deep-frying food
• If you regularly deep-fry food, consider buying an electric deep-fat fryer. They have thermostats fitted so they can’t overheat and are safer to use.
• Dry food before putting it into hot oil, to prevent the oil from splashing and burning you.
• If you don’t have an electric deep-fat fryer and are using an ordinary pan, never fill it more than one-third full.
• If the oil starts to smoke, it’s too hot. Turn the heat off and leave it to cool.
• If the oil catches fire, turn off the hob only if it’s safe to do so. Consider leaving the property and calling 999
• Never throw water onto oil that’s on fire, this will only make the fire spread quicker

More information about cooking safety can be found on the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service website.

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