Firefighters have appealed for the public to help them prevent tragedies while cooking in the kitchen in a new advertising campaign.
There are over 5000 accidental house fires in Scotland every year. Cooking is the number one cause – and many of the most serious fires which lead to injury or death are due to people cooking under the influence of alcohol. Now the SFRS is encouraging people, through a new advert, to avoid cooking when they get home from a night out.
Assistant Chief Officer David McGown, Director of Prevention and Protection, said: “The fact is that for many years cooking has been the number one cause of house fires in Scotland. Weekends are often a peak time for cooking fires, especially where someone is cooking under the influence of alcohol.
“Very often it is when people are tired, or under the influence of alcohol, that a cooking fire results in someone being injured or killed.
“Our message is if you’re feeling hungry after a night out don’t cook, consider buying pre-cooked food or prepare a cold snack instead. The risk of falling asleep is too high and too often we see the tragic results of someone falling asleep with the cooker on.”
There’s another way to stay even safer – fit a heat alarm in your kitchen. These are specially designed for the kitchen and are not activated by smoke, preventing false alarms.
ACO McGown added: “It only takes a moment of distraction, or falling asleep, for a fire in the home to start.
“Making sure your home has working smoke alarms is vital. They will alert you as soon as a fire starts giving you a vital early warning which could save your life.
“Cooking fires can happen to anyone but older people are particularly at risk.
“Over the last five years three-quarters of preventable fire deaths in Scotland were people aged 50 years or over – and almost a third of people injured through fire were aged 60 or over.”
With older people clearly being particularly at risk from fire, SFRS are offering a free service which could save lives.
ACO McGown continued: “These home fire safety visits are a cornerstone of our prevention efforts and have contributed to a marked decrease in the number of incidents including those involving fatalities and casualties over the last decade.
“Our firefighters will visit your home to identify any hazards. They will also assist in developing an escape plan as well as supply and install smoke detectors for free.
“We are here to help everyone stay safe within the home but we are particularly keen to support the most vulnerable and elderly within our communities.
“That is why we appeal to everyone to check if their elderly relatives, friends or neighbours are in need of this vital support – and to contact us directly.”
To register for a Home Fire Safety Visit call the SFRS freephone number: 0800 0731 999, text ‘FIRE’ to 80800.
The TV advert runs from Friday, November 24 until Thursday, November 30.
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