North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is launching the ‘We don’t want to come dine with you – Think Safe, Cook Safe!’ campaign in Wrexham county on Thursday (November 10^th)  to help drive down the number of cooking related fires in the area and educate local residents about the importance of cooking safely.

Cooking is a major cause of accidental fires in the home in North Wales – this campaign highlights the dangers of leaving your cooking unattended and follows on from other successful campaigns held across North Wales recently.

Forgetting to turn off the hob, leaving food in the microwave for too long, overheating a chip pan, burning the toast, leaving the oven on - all of these can spell disaster in the kitchen and can lead to serious injury or, even more worryingly, the loss of life.

Almost half of all house fires attended in North Wales are cooking related - that is why firefighters will be out and about over the upcoming weeks, talking to shoppers in Wrexham county about how to stay safe in the kitchen, providing free washing up brushes to encourage people to think safe when  cooking and to remember to ensure that you regularly clean your oven and grill.

People can put their safety knowledge to the test by trying out our cooking safely quiz with a chance to win £100 worth of supermarket vouchers.

An online cooking quiz will also help those who cannot make it to the supermarket visits to learn about safety in the kitchen and have a chance of winning our competition.

Stuart Millington, Senior Fire Safety Manager, said: "It is our responsibility to do everything we can to highlight that cooking causes a high number of house fires and to change behaviours to prevent these fires from occurring, however, whilst we can advise and educate the individual must want to change the things that they do in order to make themselves safer.

"Time and time again we attend house fires which have started in the kitchen - it is so easy to forget your cooking, especially if you are tired, distracted or have been drinking or on medication, and the consequences can be devastating. We don’t want to come dine with you and tackle your kitchen fire!

"So please take notice of our campaign, come along to see us at a supermarket near you - we'll provide you with a washing up brush to help keep your cooking equipment clean and the chance to win £100 in supermarket vouchers. If you can’t make it, take part in our fire safety competition on our Facebook page at www.facebook/northwalesfire.

"Don't forget - smoke alarms save lives. For a free home fire safety check call our 24 hour freephone number on 0800 169 1234.

Here are Stuart’s top tips for safety in the kitchen:

• If you leave the room take the cooking off the heat
• Don’t use matches or lighters to light gas cookers. Spark devices are safer
• Always make sure that any handles are turned away from the edge of the cooker
• Keep the oven, hob and grill clean – a build up fat and grease can easily catch fire
• Never hang anything to dry above the cooker
• Take care if you are wearing loose clothing as it can easily catch fire
• When you’ve finished cooking make sure everything is turned off
• Turn off electrical appliances when they are not being used
• Never use a chip pan – use a thermostatically controlled deep far fryer or oven chips.
• Make sure that you have smoke alarms – they are free of charge and could save your life.

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service staff will be visiting the following locations on the dates below:

Thursday 10/11(11am – 3pm) – Iceland, Island Green

Thursday 17/11(11am – 3pm)  –  Sainsburys, Plas Coch

Thursday 24/11(11am – 3pm)  – Morrisons, Wrexham

Thursday 1/12 (11am – 3pm) -  Co-Op, Johnstown

Thursday 8/12 (11am – 3pm) – Tesco, Wrexham

Thursday 13/12 (11am – 3pm) – Tesco, Cefn Mawr

To find out more about the campaign, search #wedontwanttocomedinewithyou on Twitter or visit www.facebook/northwalesfire