Fire safety hits new heights

Chip pans have been exchanged for new deep fat fryers to help reduce the risk of fire in blocks of flats in Knowsley.

Knowsley Housing Trust has teamed up with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to raise awareness of the dangers of chip pans in a series of fire safety days with residents in KHT’s high rise flats.

The chip pan exchange scheme has already been successful at Quarry Green Heights in Kirkby and the programme has now been rolled out to 700 residents of Gaywood Green, Knowsley Heights, Ashton Park, The Fairways and Woolton Views.

KHT and MFRS officers have delivered 20 new, safer fryers to residents whose existing fryers or chip pans were considered high risk. Chip pans are the biggest cause of house fires in the UK – resulting in 12,000 fires and 50 deaths a year.

Ian Thomson, Executive Director of Asset Management, said: “By their nature blocks of flats are particularly vulnerable to the spread of fires because of the communal areas, stairwells and close proximity of residences.

“We take the safety of our residents very seriously and through our partnership with MFRS we are raising awareness and hopefully saving lives.” Mary Catterall, 75, a resident of KHT’s The Fairways sheltered scheme in Halewood, said: “I think it is a marvelous idea. I had a chip pan before and had wanted to change it but I wouldn’t have been able to afford a new fryer.

“The fryer is 100 per cent better and I have extra peace of mind that it is safer.”

The first chip pan exchange at Quarry Green Heights last year was brought about after MFRS rescued a tenant whose chip pan had caught fire.

KHT is planning further work alongside MFRS to help reduce the risk and spread of fire in its high rise blocks.

Pictured L-R is: Mary Catterill, The Fairways, Rob Worthington, Ashton Park, Andy Curtis MFRS, Estate Services Operative Carol Smith, and Barbara Radley, Woolton Views.