The warning to ‘stand by your pan’ when cooking comes from Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) following a lucky escape for the resident of a Folkestone flat.

In the blaze, in the early hours of Sunday morning (20 November), it is believed that a man had fallen asleep while using a chip pan, which overheated and led to the fire.

KFRS received a call at around 12:40am to a kitchen alight at Church Street, in the town, and crews wearing breathing apparatus led the man to safety and put out the fire using a hose reel.

The kitchen was damaged in the blaze and most of the flat was affected by smoke damage.

Fortunately a smoke alarm in the flat sounded, alerting residents to the blaze.

The man suffered slight smoke inhalation and was treated at the scene by paramedics.

KFRS Risk Reduction Manager Rob Sherwood said: “As this incident demonstrates, residents need to think carefully when cooking late a night, as there is a high risk of falling asleep and leaving smouldering food to burn unattended."

Watch KFRS’s ‘stand by your pan’ cooking safety film at www.standbyyourpan.com .

Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2011©