Firefighters remove elderly woman from Stornoway home after chip pan fire

Firefighters rescued an elderly woman from a house in Stornoway's Murray Place yesterday evening (26 September 2013).

Two appliances from Stornoway attended the call which came in at around 5.30pm yesterday.

Crews extinguished the fire with a fire blanket. There was fire, heat and smoke damage to the kitchen as a result of the incident.

The elderly female resident was given oxygen by crews before she was transferred into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service would like to issue a reminder to the public about the dangers associated with chip pans, saying: "Modern electric deep fat fryers are much safer than traditional chip pans as they have a safety switch that cuts them off to stop them overheating and catching fire.

"Try not to use a traditional chip pan if you can because there's always a high risk of fire."

If you do use a traditional chip pan, please follow the below advice:

*Only ever fill one third full

*Turn the handle to the side – but not over any of the other cooker rings

*Fry in small amounts – overfilling could cause spills

*Make sure food going in it is dry, not dripping wet or covered in ice.

* Deep fry when you’ve been drinking alcohol or taking drugs or if you are feeling tired

* Leave the pan alone - It only takes a second for a fire to start

* Never use water to extinguish a chip pan fire