Kitchen fire

Firefighters have praised residents for acting quickly to escape their house and call the Fire Service during a kitchen fire.

Two crews from Colchester were called to a kitchen fire in Blackberry Road, Stanway at 12:23pm.

On arrival, crews reported that there was a small fire in a kitchen and worked to extinguish it with dry powder by 12:51pm.

The fire started when a tray of food under the grill caught alight.

Crew Manger Noel Bush from Colchester Fire Station said: “The residents did the right thing as soon as the fire started by getting out of the house and calling us straight away. They were waiting out the front of the house when we arrived. It’s really important to get out of the house as soon as you discover a fire or when you hear your smoke alarms going off and that you never attempt to extinguish a fire yourselves.”

More than half of accidental fires at home are started by cooking - follow our cooking safety advice to stay safe in your kitchen.

• Take care if you need to leave the kitchen while cooking. Take pans off the heat or turn them down to avoid risk
• Never leave your property unattended when the oven or other cooking appliances are in use
• Avoid leaving children in the kitchen alone when cooking on the hob. Keep matches and saucepan handles out of their reach to keep them safe
• Make sure saucepan handles don’t stick out – so they don’t get knocked off the stove
• Take care if you’re wearing loose clothing – this can easily catch fire
• Keep tea towels and cloths away from the cooker and hob
• Double check the cooker is off when you’ve finished cooking

Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?

The residents in this incident had working smoke alarms in their home that were going off when firefighters arrived.

Smoke alarms save lives. They can alert your family as well as your neighbours and passersby to a fire in your home if you're not in.

We recommend you have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of your home and that you test them at least once a month.

If you or someone you know doesn’t have working smoke alarms at home, please get in touch. Visit essex-fire.gov.uk/book or call 0300 303 0088.