Cooking oil fire in high rise building

Firefighters are giving cooking safety advice after a cooking oil fire in Basildon last night. 

Crews were called to a high rise building in Cherrydown East, Basildon at 10:34pm. 

On arrival, crews reported the there was a fire on the 6th floor. 

Crews entered a flat and extinguished a fire in the kitchen. 

Firefighters believe the fire was caused by cooking oil that had caught alight. 

Crew Manager Ricky Jones from Basildon Fire Station said: “Cooking oil can overheat quickly and catch alight so it’s really important to keep a close eye on it at all times. If the oil starts to smoke, it’s too hot and you need to safely remove it from the heat.

“We’d like to thank the residents of the flats for following the building’s stay put policy in the event of a fire. This meant we could get up to the 6th floor quickly and get crews into the flat. Our firefighters worked quickly to contain the fire and smoke to the kitchen area which prevented damage throughout the flat.”

When cooking with oil:

• Take care when cooking with hot oil – it sets alight easily
• Never leave cooking unattended
• Make sure food is dry before putting it in hot oil so it doesn’t splash
• If the oil starts to smoke – it’s too hot.  Turn off the heat and leave it to cool
• Use a thermostat controlled electric deep fat fryer. They can’t overheat
• If your pan catches fire, turn off the heat if it is safe to do so. Never throw water or a damp tea towel over it