While it’s easy for folks to get distracted in their busy daily lives, New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services is reminding residents to be careful when they’re cooking.
Glen Bailey, acting assistant chief with New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services, said the fire department has been responding to a lot of pot-on-the-stove fires in recent weeks. He said people have been making lunch or dinner, and either leave the house or get busy doing something else and forget they’re cooking something on the stove, in the oven or on the barbecue.
“Most times, people have left the homes,” he said. “What we have also had recently is people falling asleep.”
Bailey said firefighters attending pot-on-the-stove fires usually know from the moment they arrive that it’s a cooking-related fire. “Pots on the stove smell the same, no matter what is being cooked,” he said.
While these sorts of fires can sometimes generate a lot of smoke, they can also lead to extensive fire damage.
“If people can just take that extra second to make sure their stove is off, their oven is off, their barbecue is off, it can save a lot of damage,” Bailey said. “It can save lives.”
Bailey said firefighters recognize people are super busy, so it’s easy to forget some things – but they’re reminding residents of the importance of taking time to ensure nothing is left cooking on the stove, in the oven or on the barbecue.
“In the last month, there seems to be a bit of an uptick,” he told the Record. “It just seems that people are trying to multitask.”
New Westminster Fire and Rescue Services also reminds residents of the importance of having working smoke detectors in their homes.
