Have a safe and happy pancake day

Reaching for the frying pan to make pancakes? The Fire and Rescue Service want you add a special ingredient to the mixture of eggs, flour and milk – safety!

Greater Manchester’s Chief Fire Officer, Steve McGuirk said: “We want everyone to have a fun family time if they celebrate pancake day, don’t let an accidental fire make it memorable for the wrong reasons, it only takes a moments distraction to cause a serious incident”.

To help reduce the chance of an accidental fire always remember the following points:

• When using a frying pan or cooking with hot oil never leave the pan unattended when the heat is switched on, even to answer the phone or the door.
• Never put the food in the pan if the oil begins to give off smoke.
• Do not move the pan if it is on fire.
• In the event of a fire, Get out, Stay out, Call the fire service out.

The best defence against making sure an accidental fire doesn’t become a tragedy is to ensure you have a properly sited working smoke alarm and an escape plan so that everyone in the house knows what to do if it does go off.