Valentine's Day
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We're urging members of the public to stay safe in the home on Valentine's Day by following a few simple fire safety tips.
If you are planning a romantic candle-lit meal on Valentine’s Day to be aware of the dangers of naked flames. Rather than ruining a romantic meal please follow our safety advice:
Cooking tips
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Make sure saucepan handles don't stick out - so they don't get knocked off the stove.
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Take care if you're wearing loose clothing - they can easily catch fire.
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Take care if you need to leave the kitchen whilst cooking, take pans off the heat or turn them down to avoid risk.
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Make sure you don’t get distracted when cooking, even for a short period of time, turn off the cooker
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Keep tea towels and cloths away from the cooker and hob. Keep anything that can catch fire - oven gloves, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, food packaging, tea towels - away from your cooker top.
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Check the cooker is off when you have finished cooking
More kitchen safety advice
Candles safety tips
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Place candles carefully - make sure they are on a stable surface away from flammable objects such as curtains, furniture, bedding, books and magazines.
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Do not burn several candles close together as this might cause the flame to flare. (Mainly with tea lights)
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Always put scented candles and tea lights in a heat resistant holder, the metal bases can reach temperatures over three times the boiling point of water.
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Make sure you have a working smoke alarm and test it regularly. An active smoke alarm can buy you valuable time to get out, stay out and call 999.
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Make sure that everyone in your home knows what to do if a fire should occur - practise your escape route.
Jar candles
In relation to candles in jars, there have been occasions when glasses and jars have shattered without warning when the level of the wax in the jar falls to the base of the jar.
This is due to less heat energy being absorbed by the remaining wax resulting in the glass heating up excessively to the point when it may crack or shatter with force.
Users are advised to continually supervise all candles and extinguish the candle when the level of wax reduces close to the base of a jar, say to 1 or 1.5cm.
Even once the candle is out, never pick up a hot jar that has contained a burning candle until it has cooled sufficiently to be able to do so.
More candle safety advice
Last updated: Thursday 14 February 2019