Get Ready for a Grilling

For anyone who missed the various TV and press announcements last Sunday was Midsummer Day 21st June. If you believe the Weather men then we are in for a scorcher and the barbeques will be firing up as Dad’s all over the land forget their culinary skills are essentially nonexistent and treat the family to a blackened ensemble of burgers, sausages and (maybe) cooked chicken.

I am as guilty as the rest but would not wish to put a dampener on this celebration of blue summer skies. Lord knows they are few and far between.
When you head outside to begin grilling, I urge you to brush up on a few fire safety tips before lighting up.
First, choose the right location for the barbeque well away from the house and any potential combustible structures like garden sheds, pergolas and awnings.
Then make sure your grill pan is fit for use and has not rusted through during the long winter.
Gas fuelled grills cause more accidental fires than charcoal so check all connections and hoses for leaks before lighting. If it doesn’t light first time wait a few seconds for the unlit gas to dissipate before retrying.

Don’t be tempted to add other fuels to charcoal grills to give them a boost. Throwing lighter fuel on will create a fireball.

Take ownership of the Barbeque once lit and set an exclusion zone for the toddlers.

Modern barbeques with hoods can get very hot when closed and have the potential to ignite the cooking fats from the feast.  If this happens turn off the gas if you can, and throw a fire blanket over the grill. You can also use a Class F fire extinguisher such as the synergy ABF if things really get out of hand, but as a last resort as it will ruin your food.

Enjoy the summer and I hope the Barbe gets a good outing.

Don’t forget that when all is done dispose of the charcoal embers safely - don’t throw them in the trash bin. Better to let them burn out safely in the grill tray and then do what I do, throw the white ashes on the garden. Seems to make my plants grow better anyway.

Tony

Shell Shocked

The news that Shell International that pillar of the industry and one of the world’s largest companies was fined a record £300,000 over deficiencies in fire safety at the Shell Centre in central London should strike a warning bell to all businesses large and small.

I raised this issue here some months ago to warn that the enforcement of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO) was moving up the agenda with our Fire and Rescue Services.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) brought the prosecution following two small fires in three weeks at the Shell Centre on York Road, Waterloo following which Fire Officers found extensive breaches of the new legislation, including blocked escape routes and fire exits, defective fire doors and excessive fire loading. Shell pleaded guilty at the Inner London Crown court to three breaches of the RRO. It was the largest fine imposed thus far under the measure. The company was also ordered to pay £45,000 in costs.

If you are unlucky enough to have a fire incident on your premises that requires the attendance of the Fire Services you can expect them to put out the fire, but also be prepared for them to scrutinise your fire safety provisions with a fine tooth comb for non conformance with the RRO. And at just the moment when you think things can’t get worse!!

If any of you out there are saying to yourself “what the blazes is the RRO” (pun intended) take a look at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20051541.htm It’s a great URL and a great read.

Of course the prospect of exacting juicy fines is bound to encourage the enforcers and those that enforce the enforcers, however I think more central investment in communicating the key RRO provisions to the mass of small business owners out there without a degree in Government speak would be an appropriate quid pro quo. If only.

Tony

Chip Pan Fires

The great British chip has a lot to answer for.  Statistics show that on average 35 fires a week result from cooking chips prompting our Government to issue a warning that late-night fry-ups cause many of the 46 deaths a year from chip-pan fires.
More than 4,600 people were injured when they tried to make chips last year, with more than 30% of the injuries happening between 10pm and 4am.This is not unrelated to the unsurprising fact that men are twice as likely to be hurt as women when making chips.

So the scenario is the man of the house arriving home late and hungry after a few glasses of the amber nectar and putting on the chip pan for a late supper. Nodding off in front of the Telly, overfilling the pan with oil or throwing in handfuls of soaking wet chips or any combination thereof and you have a disaster in the making.

The advice as always from the Fire service is don’t panic - get you and yours out of the building and call the Brigade. Seems logical and is logical  - but standing by whilst your hand crafted limed oak kitchen is consumed to ashes is not a natural human reaction.

What can you do? Well obviously the above - I would not wish to denigrate the professionals advice  - but you can take some positive action and possibly limit the damage if you are prepared. Have a fire blanket in the house - easily accessible and close to the hob. Throwing this over the fire before it gets too big will smother it. Turn off the heat source and leave it for at least 20 minutes to allow the oil to cool below flash point.

You could also invest in a wet chemical extinguisher or the new ABF foam extinguisher both of which are designed specifically for fires in chip pans and deep fat fryers and are small enough to mount discreetly behind a cupboard door. They are designated by BSI as Class F extinguishers for the technically minded.
What you can’t do is throw water over the burning pan - it will explode. A wet tea towel used to be de rigueur but no longer - tests show that if it is too wet it will cause an eruption that will blow it clean off and if too dry it will burn just as well as the kitchen cabinets, so grannies be warned this is no longer the accepted wisdom.
Don’t use any other type of fire extinguisher but a Class F on the fire - they simply don’t work and water will make it 10 times worse - immediately!!
And finally if you have had a skin full and its 4am in the morning - rustle up a cheese and pickle sandwich if you are peckish. The worst that can happen is that you cut your hand off.

Tony

The ultimate home fire extinguisher

In writing this blog I have studiously tried to avoid unnecessary and blatant plugging of the products and services we offer. I am breaking this rule just for once as I think a new fire extinguisher we have just introduced raises the bar for fire risk protection for the home user.

The aptly named Synergy is an ABF rated extinguisher. That’s Class A, Class B and Class F which interprets as effective on extinguishing solid combustibles like wood, coal and paper, flammable liquids - most notably petrol and other flammable hydrocarbons and best of all cooking oils and fats where it has a 25F rating. This equates to putting out a burning deep fat fryer of around 25 litres capacity - big enough for some canteens and mobile catering outlets never mind a domestic kitchen.

If you think of the most common sources of household fire then the Synergy ABF has it covered. It is also a foam solution not a dry powder so makes less mess when used and is safe to use on fires involving live electricity. Taken together you have to concede it’s impressive credentials.

At 2 litres it’s compact and has practical application for boats, caravans, cars and vans in addition to domestic kitchens and catering outlets. Up to now Wet Chemical was the only true Class F extinguisher but they perform poorly on Class A fires unless you go for the large 6 litre version and have no Class B rating at all.

So there you are - overt plug or not - I see bringing the Synergy ABF to your attention as my civic duty!!!

Tony

Fire too close for comfort

At 5.50am this morning the phone rang. Not unusually I was already awake so answered within two rings so the lady was not disturbed.
Calls at that time in the morning are usually bearers of bad news, wrong numbers or hoax calls so I answered with some trepidation.
It was my Daughter. “don’t panic dad but..” were her opening few words so my heart skipped a beat anyway at what might follow.
Some mindless idiots had broken into and torched the son in laws works van - presumably as revenge because there was nothing worthwhile to steal - which was parked on the drive adjacent the house. This happened around 4.30am and the Fire and Rescue Service had already attended together with the local constabulary and the fire was now out.

I was down there within the hour and could not believe the scene. The van was totally destroyed - not a shred of anything that could burn was left - just a gutted shell with doors blown off, tyres melted to the ground and even the glass reduced to nothing. The van was not only adjacent the house but also adjacent their car and the heat had melted the grill, bumper and headlights. Both waste bins were melted forming grotesque shapes worthy of a Tate Modern exhibit. The uPVC kitchen window was partly melted and the glass cracked. If it was not for the neighbour who banged ceaselessly on the door to raise the alarm and thought to call the fire service, the fire could easily have entered the house within minutes.

They were also very lucky that the mains gas inlet valve which was literally 3 feet from the fire was housed in a steel cabinet. Everything around it was destroyed by the radiant heat.

Most of us only see news images of fires which tend to be viewed in a detached way without any real concept of the damage caused, the appalling mess that is left behind and the smell that permeates every corner of the house.

The Fire and Rescue Service did a great job and promised to return to fit a smoke alarm for free but I don’t hold out any hope that the Police will nab the perpetrators. Not everyone is fortunate to have a good neighbour who is alert at 4am in the morning, so whatever you do to safeguard your home or business from fire - don’t let it be nothing. Next time it could be you or yours.

Tony