A MAN suffered burns to his back after a chip fat fire.

The fire service received a call at about 4.55pm this evening to reports of a chip pan fire in Station Road, Burnham.

The fire was started when a man in his 60s fell asleep inside his home in while cooking dinner.

Station officer Steven Faircloth from Burnham Fire Station said: "The man had fallen asleep while he was cooking his dinner. The chip pan had overheated and caught fire, luckily he had a working smoke alarm in his property which sounded and alerted him to the fire.

"The man tried to put the fire out by pouring the pan into the sink. This caused the fire to flash over and burn his back. We would not advise anyone to do try and tackle a fire like this themselves. The best thing to do if you have a fire in your home is to get out, stay out and call the fire service out.

"Chip pans and cooking with hot oil can be really dangerous. All it can take is for you to become distracted for a few seconds and your cooking oil can quickly go up in flames."

The fire was out when crews arrived and firefighters ventiliated the property to clear the smoke and gave the man first aid for his burns and smoke inhalation. The man was left him in the care of the Ambulance Service.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: "We received a call at 5.09pm. 

"We sent one ambulance crew to the man who was conscious and breathing.

"He was treated at the scene for burns to his back and he was discharged within 40 minutes."

The fire service has advised members of the public to use oven chips or a thermostat controlled electric deep-fat fryer.

However, if you still use a traditional chip pan then you should

- Never leave the pan alone with the heat on

- Never fill it over a third full with oil or fat

- Never be tempted to cook with a chip pan after consuming alcohol

- If the oil starts to smoke – it’s too hot. Turn off the heat and leave it to cool.