Date: 17th July, 2021
At 8:24pm yesterday (16 July) firefighters from Pewsey and Marlborough were called to reports of a house fire in Hollow Lane, Wilton. On arrival firefighters found the property heavily smoke logged and made aware that there was one occupant still in the property. Two firefighters were rapidly deployed to undertake a rescue of the female occupant who was trapped on the first floor and used a smoke hood to bring her safety.
Firefighters used two sets of breathing apparatus, one hose reel jet, positive pressure ventilation and a thermal imaging camera to extinguish the fire. The stop message came in at 9:54pm and crews remained on scene until 10:30pm
Station Manager Dave Geddes, Fire Investigation Officer at this incident said: “The fire was caused by an unattended pan of oil left on the cooker hob. Cooking with hot oil can easily overheat and catch fire and for this reason our advice is not to use a chip pan at all. A thermostatically controlled deep fat fryer is far safer, as it can’t overheat. You can find more cooking safety advice on our website at www.dwfire.org.uk/kitchen-safety/ .”
Fire escape hoods, which help to protect the wearer from toxic fire-related gases, vapours and particles for at least 15 minutes, have been rolled out across the Service. They are used when people need to be evacuated from or through a smoke-filled location, and other exits – such as using a ladder or a smoke free staircase – are not available or viable.