Flintshire firefighters have urged members of the public to always remain aware when cooking after attending a major house fire in Shotton, North Wales.

A 33 year-old man was lucky to escape from his property, which suffered 30% fire damage and 80% smoke damage from a chip pan fire that required two sets of breathing apparatus and a hose reel jet to extinguish.

Arron Jones from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: "Statistics across the UK show that the majority of accidental domestic fires begin in the kitchen.

"Over half of all accidental dwelling fires we attend in North Wales are cooking related so the best advice we can give to people is to throw away your old style chip pan. Despite the old proverb 'a watched pot never boils', keeping a close eye on your cooking really will save your life."

The incident comes just two days after fire investigators revealed that the death of two people in a farmhouse fire in nearby Holywell could potentially have been prevented if the building had a smoke alarm.

Fortunately, this property did and the occupant was able to escape with only minor smoke inhalation.

Fire officer Jones added: "It only takes a few minutes for a small fire to develop into one that is serious and life threatening.

"The best way to give yourself the chance to escape unharmed from a fire is to ensure you have a working smoke alarm."

 

If you live in North Wales you can contact 0800 169 1234 free or visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk to register for a free home fire safety check and smoke alarm fitting - others should contact their local fire service.

Posted 28/11/2011 at 1600 by richard.hook@pavpub.com