Watch commander Richard Ryan said the incident could have had a much worse outcome. He has urged Islanders to cook before they consume alcohol, or to buy a takeaway before heading home after a night out, following a string of similar incidents.
The message follows the launch of the high-profile ‘Last night a burger saved my life’ campaign designed to discourage people from cooking after drinking. It featured on beer mats in pubs around the Island and on timetables in some bus shelters.
Speaking about the incident, which started in a chip pan at around 4am on Wednesday morning in a St Helier property, Mr Ryan said: ‘Drink had been involved in the incident that night and it was very lucky that he woke up when the fire alarm sounded.
‘I also cannot believe people are still using chip pans – we ran a big campaign about using thermostatically controlled ones and those will prevent the issue of chip pans catching fire. But even cooking normally after a few drinks is dangerous.’
The experienced firefighter added he was pleased the man had escaped unharmed, but noted that he had inadvertently put other people’s lives in jeopardy.
‘Thankfully there was a working smoke alarm or I am almost certain that he would have lost his life – that was the only thing that alerted him,’ he said.
‘It depends on the type of combustibles [present], but it would have been [over in] a matter of minutes. The fire had already started to spread to the kitchen cupboards and the extractor. Once it starts getting involved with the cupboards it does not take long at all for the whole room to become involved, but it is the smoke that generally kills and the whole kitchen was smoke-logged when we arrived.
‘There were five people in that property that night and one person decided to stay up and cook something. It definitely put the other people in danger.’
The watch commander added that fires caused by cooking being left unattended were a regular occurrence but that the situation had gradually improved in recent years.
He said: ‘It is not as bad as it used to be but on your Friday and Saturday party nights it does still happen.
‘We all from time to time have a few drinks and I really do not want to stop people from having fun, but have a sandwich instead, make something before you go out or get a takeaway.
‘Do not put something on [to cook], as you could end up drifting off.’
