A Bury woman, who spends her life helping people stay safe from fires, put her work into practice yesterday when she rescued a man from a chip pan fire.
Community safety advisor Flora Hardman spotted smoke coming from the roof of a nearby house on Cockey Moor Road and, after investigating, found her neighbour asleep with his chip pan ablaze in the kitchen.
Flora and her husband were then able to wake the 57-year-old man by banging on the window and persuading him to get out rather than tackle the fire.
They helped pull him to safety through a window when his exit was blocked by heavy smoke, and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service brought the fire under control after 90 minutes.
Flora said: “I knew exactly what to do and what to say to him because of the fire safety work I do. I was just so thankful we saw the smoke and were able to do something to help.
“He was very lucky and I hope that other people will think about fire safety – throw away chip pans and make sure you have a working smoke alarm.”
Her neighbor was given oxygen by a GMFRS trauma technician and Flora is urging anyone who still owns a chip pan to throw it away and opt for safer alternatives instead.
Watch Manager Steven Wilcock said the resident owed his life to Flora and her husband because smoke had filled every room except the lounge, cutting off any safe escape route.
He said: “The kitchen was well ablaze and the resident was fast asleep with his exit cut off – a recipe for disaster. They did a cracking job. Another few seconds and the fire could have spread through the property.”
Chairman of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor David Acton, said: “We are very proud of all our staff involved in bringing this incident to a safe conclusion. We encourage everyone to throw away their old chip pans; they are just not worth the risk. There are other safer alternatives like an electric deep fat fryer or oven chips.
“Please help us ban the pan for good and prevent further fires like this.”
For further fire safety advice, visit wwww.manchesterfire.gov.uk
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
