Pancake Day Fire Safety Tips

Tuesday 12th February 2013

What is pancake day?

Pancake day, or Shrove Tuesday, is a Christian traditional feast that takes place just before Lent, 40 days leading up to Easter.

Can pancakes catch fire?

Yes, pancakes, and more importantly the oil in which they are cooked, can catch fire. It doesn’t take much for a pan with oil to overheat and to burst into flames, so take care when cooking with oil.

What should I do to reduce the risk of fire on pancake day?

Because oil can quickly catch fire there are some important fire safety tips that you should follow to ensure your Shrove Tuesday does not go up in smoke:

– Never leave the stove unattended, not even for a minute.

– Make sure that the fat in the pan does not smoke. If it does, remove it from the heat and wait for it to cool before adding your pancake mixture.

– Make sure that anything that can easily catch fire, such as tea towels, oven gloves, and kitchen roll, are well away from the stove.

– Supervise children at all times.

– Ensure that your smoke alarms and heat alarm are in good working order. If you do not have smoke alarms fitted, fit one today. Early warning of a fire could save your life.

– If the pan catches fire, DO NOT move it. If safe to do so, turn off the cooker and use a fire blanket or water mist extinguisher if you have one. Following our own independent research we do not recommend using water mist on anything above a 5F rated fire (this is equivalent to an average domestic deep fat fryer). For fires above a 5F rating we recommend a wet chemical extinguisher.

– If it is not safe to extinguish the fire, evacuate the building and call the fire brigade.

Knowing how you would evacuate your home in the event of a fire will help increase your chances of escaping a fire. If you have children, talk them through the escape plan and practice what you want them to do. You can also do a home fire safety check to see if there are any fire risks in your home and take steps to reduce a fire happening by completing this online home fire safety check.

Angie Dewick-Eisele

Director

Angie Dewick-Eisele is co-founder of Safelincs Ltd, one of the leading fire safety providers in the UK. Angie was Marketing Manager for many years and as Director is these days responsible for Content Management.

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What To Do If Your Clothing Catches Fire

Friday 8th February 2013

According to statistics published by the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in 2012, around 80 people die each year in in the UK after their clothing catches fire.

If your own clothing catches fire you should take the following course of action:

STAY where you are—moving or running feeds air to the flames and worsens the fire.
DROP to the floor—if you stand up, the fire can burn your face. Fold your arms high on your chest to protect your face.
ROLL slowly on the floor or ground, in a rug or blanket if you can.
COOL off as soon as possible with water for first and second degree burns. *

If you are in the position of helping somebody else whose clothing has caught fire you should apply the steps above. In addition there is one type of fire extinguisher that can be recommended for such a situation. See the video.

The Jewel E-Series Water Mist Fire Extinguisher is a new type of extinguisher, which works by dispersing microscopic ‘dry’ water mist particles to suppress fires and extinguish burning materials, The speed at which it takes effect, combined with the rapid cooling it induces, make it the perfect extinguisher to have to hand should a fire of this nature break out.

Jewel E-Series Water Mist Fire Extinguishers are the first broad-spectrum fire extinguishers. They can be used on almost every common fire including deep fat fryer fires. They are perfect for kitchens, as they contain no harmful substances and leave no residues. The extinguisher’s supersonic nozzle disperses microscopic ‘dry’ water mist particles to suppress fires and extinguish burning materials. The 35kV dielectrical test ensures that the extinguishers can be safely used near electrical equipment.

*In a serious fire room temperatures in a fire can be 100 degrees at floor level and rise to 600 degrees at eye level. This heat can melt clothes to a victim’s skin. Never peel the clothing off – leave the treatment to medical professionals.

Warning about pre-commissioned fire extinguishers

Monday 4th February 2013

We occasionally get asked by our customers, if we could pre-service, or pre-commission our fire extinguishers for them prior to shipping. This practice, explicitly forbidden for all registered fire safety companies, involves a visual inspection and then labeling of an extinguisher with a signed off service label at the RETAILER’S warehouse. While this sounds like a clever practice, it is a service we would never offer to our customers. Apart from the fact that the British Standard BS5306-3:2009 specifically requests on-site commissioning to be completed AFTER all transport involved, the practice of pre-commissioning puts the customer both at the risk of injury and exposes them to substantial legal liabilities.

The main risk to the functioning of a fire extinguisher, and the reason for the requirement for extinguishers to be commissioned on site is damage during transport.

pre-delivery-inspection

Handles can get bent with the biggest risk being the safety pin being bent to a degree where it cannot be removed in an emergency. The latter event happens when cheap fire extinguishers rest on their heads in transit. Be careful when purchasing extinguishers online from less professional suppliers, as they often use mild steel pins that bend easily. Safelincs’ fire extinguishers, on the other hand, are 100% protected in transit by special head protectors or the use of stainless steel pins with extended diameters so that the pins can never bend in transit.

Another transport risk is leakage of CO2 fire extinguishers in transit. CO2 fire extinguishers do not have pressure valves and only a careful weight test during commissioning (removing the horn and measuring with precision scales) will reveal any loss in pressure and weight.

The other strong rationale for proper on-site commissioning is that customers require a certificate by an engineer to state that their premises are covered in accordance to the British Standard. A sticker on the extinguisher does not certify that the extinguisher is installed in the correct position or that it is in fact the right extinguisher for the risks present at the location.

All of this means that by taking a shortcut buying pre-commissioned extinguishers you are putting yourself at risk of liability if a faulty extinguisher is the cause of a failed attempt to put out a fire, resulting in loss of property and possibly injury or death. An insurance company might not pay out for damages, if the extinguishers on site were not correctly commissioned.

Safelincs has long been addressing this issue and offers all its extinguishers with an optional ON-SITE commissioning or installation/commissioning service. Our BAFE certified engineers will visit you and commission or install and commission the extinguishers at your premises. If the commissioning and installation option is chosen, our engineer will survey your site to make sure you have the correct extinguisher provision, fit the extinguishers brackets in the correct location, certify the extinguishers and label and sign each extinguisher. You are then fully covered for all eventualities.