Ban the pan!

BLAZE: a fire ignites just five minutes after firefighters begin their staged chip-pan inferno

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An 83-year-old Royton woman was just seconds away from a blaze ripping through her home.

Catherine Dunn’s experience shows how just one small lapse in concentration can lead to a fire ferocious out of all proprtion to its humble start — an unwatched chip pan.

The pensioner is now backing a hard-hitting campaign by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, who have joined forces with the Chronicle in a drive to ban the pan.

Oldham fire crews dealt with 181 accidental house fires in past year, almost two-thirds of them cooking-related. Twenty fires were a direct result of chip pan incidents.

Thorp View resident Catherine’s pan burst into flames after she believed she had switched off the stove. She was alerted by her smoke alarm and local firefighters, who rushed to put out the fire.

Catherine has vowed never to use a chip pan again: “A lesson has been learned — my family are going to get me a deep-fat fryer,” she said.

In a separate incident on Saturday evening, two crews from Oldham were called to a fire at Daisy Hill Court, Waterhead. Firefighters discovered a woman in her 70s had left her chip pan unattended and gone back to find it on fire.

In both incidents the elederly victims attempted to put out the fire themselves — the wrong thing to do, says Oldham’s fire chief.

Catherine, who needed treatment for smoke inhalation, tried to tackle it by throwing a tea towel over the flames — which simply burned through. Damage was limited to the pan and cooker, thanks to the early warning of the fire alarm

Saturday’s incident saw the occupant carry the ignited pan outside of the property, which can be extremely dangeroud.

Borough fire commander Kevin Talbot stressed: “People need to get out, call 999 and stay out.”

Firefighters staged a chip pan demonstration at Oldham Fire Station this week to show the extreme effect an unattended pan can cause.

Within minutes the hot oil had ignited. A small cup of water poured over the pan - a typical homeowner reaction - produced a rolling inferno that would have engulfed a room in seconds.

Mr Talbot said: “We used to say a damp tea towel could be used, but not any more. I know I’m being repetitive, but people need to get out, call us and stay out.

A number of fires are alcohol related: normally careful cooks decide to make a meal and fail to pay close attention to what they are doing, or simply fall asleep mid-process.

“I would simply urge people to not use chip pans,” said Mr Talbot.

The new campaign follows the recent deaths of a 29-year-old Gorton man and a 43-year-old man from Radcliffe, both cooking-related.

A trio of fire community safety advisers have been out this week to implore residents to stop using chip pans in favour of safer methods of frying.



Fire crews offer free Home Safety Checks, which may include the fitting of smoke alarms.

Ring 0800 555 815 or visit www.manchesterfire.gov.uk for information.






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