We are reminding members of our community to ‘turn off the heat before they eat’ with the launch of our new Recipe for Success COOK campaign.
50% of all accidental fires in the home across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight over the last few years started in the kitchen. When life gets busy it’s easy for everyone to get distracted, so HIWFRS wants to remind the community how important it is to ‘keep looking while cooking’.
Lone pensioners were involved in over a third of these cooking-related fires, so the Fire Service is trialling a targeted campaign aimed at over 65s in the Southsea area whilst also hoping to raise public awareness of kitchen fire safety.
With the Recipe for Success COOK campaign we hope to simplify kitchen safety with our easy to remember list of ingredients:
CLEAR – Keep tea towels, cloths and electrical leads away from the oven and hob.
OVEN – Switch off the oven and hob when you’ve finished cooking and remove pans from the heat.
OIL – A build-up of cooking oil/grease can increase the risk of cooking fires so clean regularly.
KEEP – Keep looking when cooking.
HIWFRS’ Head of Prevention Karen Farr said:
“As a Service we look carefully at the different risks our communities face across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to ensure we play our role in raising awareness of these dangers.
“Nationally each year we know that cooking causes more accidental fires in the home than anything else and sadly our local incident rates mirror the national statistics.
“Through the Recipe for Success COOK campaign we hope to highlight the dangers of unsafe cooking habits to hopefully help prevent unnecessary incidents and fires in the home.”
Over the next few months firefighters and members of the community safety team from HIWFRS will be visiting Southsea supported living facilities, supermarkets, and community groups aimed at older people in Southsea, including Age UK, Portsmouth. As well as delivering kitchen fire safety talks, the team will also be giving out some Recipe for Success campaign booklets including free recipe cards and top tips. Campaign booklets will also be given to local foodbanks in the area.
Thanks to the Tesco Extra store in Fratton, Firefighters from Southsea station and members of the HIWFRS Community safety team will also be talking to members of the community about the campaign in store throughout November.
Pop along to Tesco Extra (Fratton Way, Southsea, Portsmouth, Southsea PO4 8FD) to find out more about the Recipe for Success COOK campaign on the following dates:
Tuesday 12 November, 10am-4pm
Friday 22 November, 10am-4pm
Monday 25 November, 10am-4pm
Wednesday 27 November, 10am-4pm
If you run a community group aimed at older people in the Southsea area, HIWFRS would love to hear from you. If you’d like to request a free kitchen fire safety talk, please email community.firesafety@hantsfire.gov.uk