Pub kitchen chip pan blaze sparks advice from fire service
Firefighters were called to the chip pan fire in the kitchen of the Never Say Die pub in Jaywick on Sunday, 16 July, where they discovered the kitchen was full of smoke.
All customers had been evacuated by pub staff, and firefighters extinguished the fire using a dry powder extinguisher, then checked for hot spots using a thermal imaging camera.
One person who suffered slight smoke inhalation was given oxygen therapy by crews and was left in the care of the ambulance service.
Preventing fire
Essex Fire and Rescue has issued kitchen safety advice to avoid incidents such as this.
It said: “Avoid leaving cooking unattended and take care if you’re wearing loose clothing as it can easily catch fire.
“Keep tea towels and cloths away from the cooker and hob and check toasters are clean and placed away from curtains and kitchen rolls.
“Keep the oven, hob and grill clean and in good working order as a build-up of fat and grease can ignite a fire.
“Take care when cooking with hot oil as it sets alight easily. If the oil starts to smoke it is too hot, so turn off the heat and leave it to cool."
Avoid overheating
It added: “Ideally cook oven chips, but if you are deep fat-frying then use a thermostat-controlled electric deep fat fryer as they can’t overheat.”
Meanwhile, ‘exploding laundry’ urged Men Behaving Badly star and licensee Neil Morrissey to issue a warning to the trade last summer (August) after an incident saw this Staffordshire pub evacuated.
Customers were evacuated from the Plume of Feathers in Barlaston after a ‘mystery’ burning odour was found to be coming from the pub’s tumble dryer.
Firefighters removed the tumble dryer and ensured it was safe before they informed the pub’s staff that ‘exploding laundry’ was due to essential oils not being properly washed out of the kitchen towels, and which had led to serious pub and restaurant fires in the past.
