Fire service warning after cooking fires

One resident in Grantham needed Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue’s help earlier this week on Monday after a fire started in his kitchen when he left his lamb chops cooking unattended.

Luckily the fire was put out quickly and no one was hurt – but the situation could have been a lot worse.

Across the county, there were four other house fires in the last week – all caused by leaving cooking unattended. These included food overheating in a microwave, food overheating in an oven and the oil in two chip pans overheating. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue attended these incidents and luckily there were no major injuries.

Based on these incidents, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue is issuing a warning to residents to keep looking at their cooking.

Steve Screaton, deputy community safety manager, comments: “I know it sounds simple, but please, when you are cooking food, stay with it. If the phone rings, the kids want to play, or there is someone at the door, take the time to turn everything off before you leave the kitchen.

“Many people think it’s harmless but it’s a really serious issue. People are putting their lives, the lives of their loved ones, and their homes at risk. It only takes seconds for a fire to start so don’t take the chance.

“To encourage people to be more vigilant whilst preparing their meals, we’ve put together a top 5 list of things you can do in the kitchen whilst you’re waiting for your food to cook.”

So, with one eye on the cooker/hob, their top five things to do are:

Check Facebook or snapchat your friends;

Do 20 squats;

Whip up a fabulous dessert;

Do a Sudoku puzzle or a crossword;

See how many Maltesers you can throw and catch in your mouth in one minute - the Guinness world record is 76!