The most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries is to reduce the number of incidents that happen in the first place.

The Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service Prevention Team sets out to achieve these goals through a system of proactive education, involving a wide range of initiatives aimed at promoting an environment safe from fires, road traffic collisions and other emergencies.

This proactive education is delivered by operational personnel and a dedicated team of Community Safety Practitioners, either in people's homes whilst carrying out safer home visits and by talking to members of the public through our attendance at public events or through our work with partnership organisations.

At home or outdoors, your family is potentially at risk, not just from fire, but other hazards too. The safety of your family should always come first and by following some simple advice, you can protect them.

15,509 out of 30,709 accidental fires in the home during 2011/12 resulted from cooking

Top tips for cooking are:

• Take care when cooking with oil - it sets alight easily.
• Do not leave cooking unattended - a forgotten pan can lead to disaster.
• If the oil starts to smoke, it's too hot; turn off the heat and leave it to cool.
• Use a thermostat controlled electric deep fat fryer; they can't overheat.
• Avoid children being in the kitchen alone when cooking on the hob.
• Make sure food is dry before putting it in hot oil so it doesn't splash.

What to do if a chip pan catches fire:

• Don't take any risks; turn the heat off if it is safe to do so. NEVER throw water over it.
• Don't tackle the fire yourself - Get Out, Stay Out, Call 999.
• Don't overfill a chip pan with oil - never fill it more than one third full.

More information can be found at www.facebook.com/firekills and by downloading a fire safety leaflet

External links

Fire Kills
Arson Control Forum
Age Action Alliance
Suffolk Family Carers
Miss Dorothy
Welephant

Contact details

By using online transactions you are helping us to save money which we can use to provide other services. You can view a full list of all the transactions on our website here. If you need further assistance with the topics discussed on this page, please use the following numbers to contact us.

Email: fire.admin@suffolk.gov.uk
Telephone: 01473 260588, 0900-1700 (Mon-Thurs), 0900-1600 (Fri)

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