Almost half of house fires caused by unattended cooking

New figures released by South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue show that almost half of all house fires across the county last year started in the kitchen.

Fire officers said the majority of those fires could have been prevented and started when people left pans on the hob or food in the oven.

The service is now appealing to people across the county to ‘stand by your pan’ to avoid a kitchen fire disaster.   

As part of the campaign, officers are also asking people not to cook after consuming alcohol and, instead, get a takeaway.

Group manager Matt Gillatt, deputy head of the joint police and fire community safety team, said: “Public awareness and safety around house fires has increased dramatically in recent years but one bad habit we haven’t quite kicked, yet, is leaving cooking unattended.

“Pretty much every kitchen fire we attend originates from an oven or hob and, generally, the fires have started because something has been left on.

“Examples range from a cooker being left to pre-heat to somebody falling asleep whilst their food is cooking and, whilst we know it’s not usually intentional, fire happens fast.

“We don’t expect people to stare at their food whilst it cooks and clearly pre-heating an oven is fairly standard — this isn’t an issue.

“What’s an issue is where people leave the kitchen entirely and either forget that the cooker is on or get distracted with something else, such as the TV or having a quick shower.

“What’s also an issue is where people get in the kitchen and start cooking having had something to drink — this is never a good idea and often ends up in the worst kind of fires.”

The latest campaign is based on figures that show there were 230 cooking fires across South Yorkshire in 2020 — making up 47 per cent of the 491 house blazes attended by firefighters last year.

And it comes off the back of a smoke alarm push in which firefighters urged people to ensure they had working smoke alarms on every level of their home.

Mr Gillatt said: “Our message is really clear — don’t leave cooking unattended and don’t cook drunk.

“This isn’t just about reducing pressure on us, it’s about keeping yourself safe.

“What people often don’t realise is that getting hurt is just one risk when it comes to kitchen fires — very often you can escape harm but be left with a huge bill for redecorating.”

Visit www.syfire.gov.uk for more information on cooking fire safety and details of how to book a free fire safety home visit.