Worksop: Fire service tells residents ditch their chips pans after bungalow blaze

The woman, who is in her sixties, suffered facial burns and smoke inhaliation as a result of the incident, which happened on Tuesday, November 10 at around 10.40am.

It took the fire crews from Worksop and Retford 40 minutes to bring the blaze, on Monmouth Road, under control.

Ian Cooper, watch manager at Worksop Fire Station, is now appealing to residents to ditch their beloved chip pans which he says are ‘not worth the risk.’

Ian added: “Chip pans are much frowned upon by the Fire Service these days, as they are extremely dangerous.

“Leaving a chip pan unattended for even a little while can cause a serious fire which will spread within minutes.

“Luckily, this lady had a working smoke alarm and because of this she was alerted to the fact the chip pan had caught fire and managed to get out of the property to safety before we arrived at the scene.

“She still sustained facial burns, but these are not thought to be serious and she is currently recovering in hospital. If she hadn’t had a working smoke alarm, things could have been a lot different.”

“Everyone love chips but we ask that residents switch to oven chips or pop down to the chippy.”

“If you have to use a chip pan, do not leave it unattended- even to answer the phone. And make sure that your smoke alarm is in working order.”

Don Spittlehouse, managing director of A1 Housing said: “The situation at Monmouth Road could have been far worse were it not for the new monitored smoke alarm, installed just last week as part of the equipment upgrades for the supported housing service. Smoke alarms are something that we hope we never have to use, but this highlights how important they are and why A1 Housing is dedicated to providing as safe and secure an environment as possible for our tenants.”

“This was a cooking fire that started with a chip pan and while a quick response from our crews meant they could put the fire out, we would really urge people to be careful when cooking and specifically when using chip pans,” said Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service Risk Reduction Officer Ruth Clayton.

“Chip pans cause one fifth of all accidental dwelling fires attended by Fire and Rescue Services across the UK and if you do have one, then we advise that they are never filled more than a third full of oil and they are never left unattended.

“Finally, if you do ever have a chip pan fire then we ask that you don’t ever try and use water to put it out, instead please get out, stay out and call 999.

“This is also a good example of the importance of having working smoke alarms as in this case they alerted the occupier to the fire. They literally can be life savers.”