Almost a third of all kitchen fires in London happen in the homes of young professionals according to new figures released by the London Fire Brigade.
Brigade figures show there have been over 17,500 fires in London kitchens in the past five years resulting in over 2600 injuries and 24 deaths.
A study of the figures reveals that nearly one in three of these occurred in the homes of young professionals and that in total, kitchen fires account for 60 percent of residential fires in the capital.
Andy Hickmott, London Fire Brigade’s Assistant Commissioner for Community Safety, said the new figures challenged the popular perception that “serious fires only happen to vulnerable people”.
“I think, with young professionals more than others, there’s an attitude that it won’t happen to me. But our latest figures speak for themselves – it can happen and it has to thousands of Londoners”.
In a bid to reduce the number of kitchen fires the Brigade is launching a new campaign called COOKSAFE which will include a series of events aimed at highlighting common kitchen fire risks as well as a online advice from www.london-fire.gov.uk/cooksafe.
On Friday firefighters will be in Borough Market from 11.30am where they will be joined by a top chef to show shoppers how to cook safely and reduce the risks of fire.
The Brigade has also issued a list of kitchen safety tips:
- Never leave cooking unattended, even for a moment
- Always make sure the cooker is switched off once you’ve finished using it
- Keep your oven, hob and grill clean and free from grease – a build up can be a fire hazard
- Don’t store things like cookbooks or teatowels close to the hob as they can easily catch fire
- Avoid cooking if you’ve been drinking alcohol
- Never fill a pan more than a third full with oil
- Dry chips before putting them in oil
- Never throw water onto hot oil or fat
- If a fire does break out you should turn the heat off if it’s safe to do so but don’t try to tackle the fire by yourself. Get everyone out of the house and call 999 immediately.
