Paraffin-based skin creams blamed for fire deaths

 Paraffin-based skin creams may be linked to hundreds of deaths, a senior firefighter has warned.

Chris Bell, a watch commander with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said the creams can become flammable when they soak into fabrics, clothing, bandages and dressings, then come into contact with a lit cigarette, flame or other heat source.

“Hundreds of thousands of people use them, we’re not sure how many fire deaths might have occurred but it could be into the hundreds,” he said.

He made the comments after an investigation by BBC 5 live Investigates and BBC One’s Inside Out Yorkshire and Lincolnshire found only seven of 38 products containing paraffin licensed in the UK carry warnings on their packaging.

“The creams are safe to use in their own right, but if that person is exposed to a naked flame or some other heat source, they can go up,” Mr Bell said.