FIREFIGHTERS in Wem are encouraging residents to grab a late-night snack from their local chippy as a way to reduce house fires this week.
The request comes as part of National Chip Week, and firefighters visited Fry-Days in Wem this week to push their message.
Fire crews are often called out to incidents involving house fires caused by chip pans and cookers left on when the cook has fallen asleep after drinking alcohol.
As well as putting forward the option of a take-away, firefighters are also hoping to persuade people who insist on cooking their own chips to ditch the old fashioned chip pan, responsible for causing serious fire damage to homes, and replace it with electric thermostatically controlled chip pans in a bid to reduce kitchen fires.
Kate Hancocks, a risk reduction officer with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Chip pans kill and cause serious burns and injuries. The number of house fires in Shropshire is falling with successful fire prevention education from our firefighters but it is in the kitchen where most fires start.
Problem
“It is a problem which we are trying to tackle and by supporting National Chip Week we do hope that people will listen and get into the habit of cooking safely or consider getting a takeaway instead of cooking at home after a night out. We want to target our message to the age groups who go out drinking and then come home and cook when they feel hungry.
“Don’t cook after drinking alcohol – that is our message as too often it leads to a house fire when people fall asleep with the chip pan on.”
By Pam Griffin
