County Durham News.co.uk

It was all about the pancakes in the Headquarter’s kitchen of County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service.  Local children were invited to bring their parents, or grandparents, along to Fire and Rescue Service HQ to sample some tasty pancakes.  A pancake ‘master class’ was served up by Community Safety Officers Mark Henderson and Glen McCloy and then everyone enjoyed pancakes before the traditional pancake race took place outside.

“There is a serious side to this fun afternoon for the children”, said Mark, “We wanted to educate the children and adults on safety in the kitchen, particularly when using pans on a hob.  The 2010/11 fire statistics state that the main source of ignition in accidental dwelling fires is cooking appliances and they also account for over half of all accidental dwelling fire casualties.”

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It’s Shrove Tuesday (pancake day) on the 21st February and National Chip Week 20th – 26th February so lots of us will be spending a little bit more time than usual in the kitchen in the coming weeks.  The sad fact is however, that last year the ignition source for half of all accidental fires in the home was a cooking appliance.  Fires from cooking appliances also make up over half of all house fire injuries – 3,363 out of 6,429 (52.3%).  To make sure you have a safe pancake day and chip week read our daily top tips and check out the advice on our Make Your Kitchen Safe and Chip Pan Safety pages.

Top Tip…. Take care when cooking with oil – it sets alight easily.  If the oil starts to smoke, it’s too hot.  Turn off the heat and leave it to cool.

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Did you know that half of all accidental dwelling fires are caused by faulty or careless use of electrical appliances?  Electrical Fire Safety week runs from 23rd – 29th January 2012 and we are providing ‘top tips’ in the run up to that week to help keep you safe.  With Christmas now over you may be lucky enough to have received computer games, laptops, hair straighteners and other electrical items as gifts.  Even though they are new it is important to check the instructions as using them incorrectly could cause them to fail and possibly start a fire.

TOP TIP – The Electrical Safety Council has produced a 'Home Electrical Safety Check’ App which takes you through a quick, visual check of your home to ensure it’s electrically safe.  The App highlights potential dangers in each room and explains how to resolve simple, non-technical problems.  Where more serious electrical issues are flagged, people are advised to use a registered electrician. 

More tips...

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County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service wish you a safe Christmas and New Year. 

To help keep you safe follow our ’12 Days of Christmas’ top tips and check out our Christmas page

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Fire Service students who enrolled in the country’s first Fire Scene Investigation Foundation Degree at Teesside University celebrated their achievements at a recent graduation ceremony at the new £13M campus in Darlington. 

This proved to be a double celebration after it was announced last week that County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service had been successful in winning the Training and Staff Development Award in Star Radio’s Business Awards for 2011 for its work with the University in developing the degree for fire and rescue staff across the country.

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