Chip pans responsible for more than a tenth of Scottish fires

15 Jul 2012

More than a tenth of house fires in Scotland are started by an unattended chip or hot food pan, figures obtained by the Scottish Conservatives have revealed.

Fire crews have been forced to attend thousands of such incidents in the past three years across Scotland, raising concerns that more needs to be done to raise awareness of the dangers of chip pans.

The statistics, released by fire boards across the country through Freedom of Information, have increased over the past two years, and appear to vary from area to area.

In some parts of Scotland the figures were above 20 per cent.

Scottish Conservative local government spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell MSP said:

“The number of fires in Scotland caused by chip pans has risen this year and that must be a cause for concern.

“There used to be awareness campaigns warning the public about the risks of leaving hot food pans unattended.

“There has been speculation that a increase in house fires has been caused by the smoking ban and rising prices in pubs, leading to more people drinking at home.

“Our fire services are under enough pressure without having to deal with such a high volume of unnecessary calls.

“So many fires are avoidable, but that is particularly true of hot food pan fires, so the idea of a campaign needs to be revisited.

“These statistics show thousands of cases where carelessness is not only putting extra strain on fire crews, but placing lives across Scotland in danger.”

 

Notes to Editors

Below is the local breakdown of fires caused by chip or hot food pans in Scotland for the past three years

Central:

2009 – 6.8 per cent

2010 – 5 per cent

2011 – 7 per cent

Dumfries and Galloway:

2009 – 13.7 per cent

2010 – 11.9 per cent

2011 – 16.2 per cent

Fife:

2009 – 6.2 per cent

2010 – 7 per cent

2011 – 8 per cent

Grampian:

2009 – 16 per cent

2010 – 16 per cent

2011 – 16 per cent

Highlands:

2009 – 4 per cent

2010 – 4 per cent

2011 – 4 per cent

Lothian and Borders:

2009 – 20.8 per cent

2010 – 23 per cent

2011 – 22.7 per cent

Strathclyde:

2009 – 6.2 per cent

2010 – 5.3 per cent

2011 – 5.8 per cent

Tayside:

2009 – 3.3 per cent

2010 – 4.3 per cent

2011 – 3.4 per cent

Scotland average:

2009 – 9.6 per cent

2010 – 9.6 per cent

2011 – 10.4 per cent