Half of all house fires in mid and west Wales caused by cooking

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is continuing to issue warnings over the dangers of leaving cooking unattended after another series of incidents over the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, crews from Swansea West attended a property fire in Sketty, which had been caused by burnt cooking. One female occupant who suffered from asthma was administered oxygen therapy by the Fire Service and given precautionary checks by ambulance paramedics.

In a further incident on Saturday, crews from Swansea West and Swansea Central attended a cooker fire in a ground floor kitchen of a property in Newton, Swansea. Two casualties were administered oxygen therapy by fire crews, before the arrival of ambulance personnel who checked the casualties over.

On Sunday morning, Morriston and Swansea Central fire crews attended a call to a kitchen fire in Winch Wen, Swansea. The fire was confined to the oven and surrounding unit and crews used two breathing apparatus, a hose reel jet and a fire extinguisher. Two casualties were led to safety by Fire Service crews and were both treated for smoke inhalation at the scene by paramedics.

Deputy Head of Community Safety Steve Davies said, “We keep issuing safety messages around the importance of never leaving cooking unattended, but unfortunately, these messages are failing to be heard. In March alone, we attended 28 cooking related fires which is a 55% increase on last year. I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure you’re alert when in the kitchen. 53% of all house fires are started by cooking – figures which show that failing to pay attention could result in losing so much more than an evening’s meal”.

He continues, “Please read our kitchen safety advice below and make sure you follow it at all times.”

• Never leave your cooking unattended – If you are called away, remove pans from the heat or turn the heat down
• Keep your toaster clean, free of crumbs and away from curtains, kitchen rolls and everything else that could catch fire. Never store your toaster under the kitchen unit, in case of heat damage.
• Check that your oven is clean – fat builds up quickly and is often the common cause of oven and grill fires.
• Don’t cook if you have been drinking alcohol or if you’re taking prescription drugs – you may get drowsy or lose concentration
• Check you’ve turned the cooker off – when you’ve finished cooking, double check that the cooker is switched off. Never leave cooking unattended.​​