Rescued from kitchen blaze

A MAN was rescued from a fire in Llanelli on July 1 after food being cooked was left unattended.

Crews from Llanelli and Gorseinon attended the incident in the Marble Hall area of the town.

The fire involved a cooker in the kitchen of the first-floor flat.

Firefighters rescued a male occupant from the property and extinguished the fire using a hose reel jet, two breathing apparatus, a thermal imaging camera and a positive pressure ventilation fan.

Mid and West Wales Fire Service confirmed the fire was caused by cooking left unattended.

Group manager Karen Jones, head of community safety for Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This incident highlights the consequences of leaving your cooking unattended and the real danger that this can cause.

“The majority of house fires attended by the Fire and Rescue Service are caused through cooking, so it is vitally important that you always pay attention when you are cooking.”

She added that people needed to pay full attention to meals being cooked and not be sidelined by other things.

“Don’t allow yourself to be distracted, and if you do need to leave your cooking, remove pots and pans from any heat source and turn off the heat”, she said. “Drinking alcohol will diminish your ability to concentrate and will increase the risk of fire if you do attempt to cook while under the influence. Our advice is that if you have been drinking and are hungry, order a takeaway.

“A smoke alarm will give you the best opportunity to be alerted and leave the house in the event of a fire, so please make sure that you have working smoke alarms fitted in your home and test them regularly.”