Domestic kitchen fire safety

Kitchen fires account for the majority of accidental fires in the home and around 70% of these are cooking related. Chip pans are well known for being a fire risk, and are the largest cause of fire-related injuries in UK homes. In 2006 the DCLG found 43% of chip pan casualties took place between 8pm and 4am. A large number of serious kitchen fires also begin when people have been drinking alcohol. The cause of these fires is often ovens or hobs being accidentally left on, and flammable items being left too close to the stove. It is very easy to get distracted while cooking - the doorbell or phone can ring, children can distract us, or we can leave the room to do other chores while food is cooking.

The long-running advice to use a wet tea towel to tackle chip pan fires were scrapped by the UK government in 2008. When faced with a blazing pan of oil it is best practice to "get out, stay out and dial 999", as most individuals are not trained to deal with fires and could potentially face severe injury or death if their attempts to extinguish fat or chip pan fires were unsuccessful. The wet tea towel advice is also contrary to all other advice we give to the general public about not tackling fires.

The best way to prevent a kitchen fire is to stay near the cooker whenever you are cooking something. Don't leave cooking unattended. It only takes a few minutes for a fire to get out of hand. Check regularly on the things cooking in the oven. Be sure to keep your stove and oven clean and be sure to move anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from the heat, and take care if you are wearing loose clothing, it can easily catch fire.

When cooking with a chip pan or deep frying dry the food before you put it in oil. If your pan starts to smoke it's too hot. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool. Never pour water on hot fat and turn pot handles toward the centre of the stove when cooking on the stove top. Pots and handles should never hang over the edge of the hob where someone could bump into them. This is one of the major causes of serious burns in children and the elderly.

Smoke alarms are vitally important to the safety of a household and can give you an early warning should a fire start. Fit smoke alarms on every floor of your home and test the batteries once a week. If you live on one level, fit a smoke alarm in the hallway between the living and sleeping areas, ideally on the ceiling, at least 300mm away from a wall or light fitting. This means that the fire service can be called as quickly as possible, minimising the damage and life risk. Do not locate smoke detectors in kitchens. Steam from cooking can trigger an alert. A heat detector is the proper device suited for detecting fires while minimising the likelihood of false alarms.

There are three main types of fire extinguisher: powder; water; and foam. No single type of extinguisher is totally effective on every kind of fire. Before buying one, it's vital to look carefully at what kinds of fires it can be used on to make sure you get one suitable for your own needs. Fire extinguishers are not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which has reached the ceiling, endangers the user, or otherwise requires the expertise of a fire department.

These are fire-resistant sheets of material that you can use to cover a fire to cut its supply of oxygen or wrap around a person whose clothes are on fire. You can also only use them on very small and contained fires (like fat-pan fires on the cooker) and it's likely that you will only get one go at putting out the fire. If you don't put it out, you won't be able to retrieve the blanket.

If you want to reduce the risk of death in a fire as much as possible, you should get domestic fire sprinklers fitted in your home. A home fire sprinkler system is a great added piece of security that can protect your family and property. If a fire starts, the system will respond quickly and put out the threat.

Several innovative fire suppression devices have also come to market with a view to tackling the problem of home fire protection in high-risk areas where it would be expensive and disruptive to fit traditional sprinklers. Plumis's product, Automist is the latest of these devices and focuses on seamless integration and ease of retrofit.

For further advice on home fire safety contact your local Community Fire Safety Office of the Fire Brigade.