Never attempt to tackle a fire yourself - that’s the stark message from firefighters after a number of recent fires involving chip pans.

The latest incident happened in Brookside Road, Northfleet at 5.39pm yesterday (8 March) when a pan was left unattended. Two pumps from Thames-side were sent to the two-storey house and an elderly man was taken hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

Just last week, two pensioners suffered burns to their faces and hands following a fire in Broomhill Park Road at Southborough near Tunbridge Wells. Three crews were called to the flat on Wednesday (3 March) after the occupier and her friend, both in their 80s, tried to tackle a fire caused by a pan of hot oil that had caught light. Both were taken to hospital.

KFRS Assistant Director for Community Safety, Steve Griffiths, said: “As these incidents show, cooking should never be left unattended and you should never attempt to tackle a fire yourself as you could get seriously hurt. In the event of a fire, our advice is always this: get out, stay out and dial 999. Your life is worth more than your possessions.”

Steve added: "Despite all our efforts to get the message across about the dangers of cooking with hot oil, we are still being called to a number of fires in the home involving the old style chip pans, with the kitchen being the main area where most house fires start.

"In just a few minutes, the oil can overheat and cause the pan to ignite. Our advice is to throw away your old style chip pan - thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers are a far safer option. Leaving any kind of cooking unattended places you at risk – people don’t realise how quickly a fire can take hold.”
Follow these simple guidelines and you’ll help keep your kitchen safe:
• never fill a chip pan more than a third full of oil
• pat food dry first as water makes oil sizzle up, which can be dangerous
• if the oil starts to smoke don't put the food in - turn off the heat and leave it to cool
• avoid cooking with a chip pan after drinking alcohol
• don't leave the pan unattended.
If you have a chip pan fire:
• call the fire and rescue service on 999 immediately
• never move the pan and never throw water over it
• turn off the heat (if you can do so safely) and allow it to cool completely
• fit smoke alarms on every floor of your home and test the batteries regularly.

Thanks to the quick response of firefighters, the damage to both properties was limited.

For further free safety advice, contact 0800 923 7000 or visit our website www.kent.fire-uk.org

Children and families across the county will find it easier and quicker to access services as seven new hubs are to be built over the next 12 months.  The hubs will help different organisations and services work together better.

Last year Herefordshire Council successfully bid for £2.4 million to develop new multi-agency centres across the county.  The centres, known as hubs, will be a welcome addition to existing community facilities such as schools, children’s centres and youth centres.  They will help teams who work with children and parents to have a local base within the area they support.

Under the new scheme, a school improvement officer working with schools in the north of the county could share desk and office space with a social worker, community police officer or student counsellor from a location in Leominster, possibly also a youth worker, special needs co-ordinator and health visitor too.  Sharing office space helps people work together better, which will make things easier for families needing extra support.

The location of the hubs has been agreed after detailed research into where families prefer to access services.  A project undertaken by Herefordshire’s Children’s Trust - known as No Wrong Door - has been going on since last summer to design the detail of how the hubs will work.  Some council and primary care trust staff are likely to be redeployed so that each centre has a core team of people based there.  Each hub will provide some flexible office space, as well as private interview rooms and a space for group activities or meetings that could be made available for use by the local community.

Using a combination of refurbishments and extensions, it is planned to develop a hub in Bromyard, Leominster, Kington, Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye as well as two further hubs in Hereford. Staff from different agencies will be able to ‘hot desk’ from the new hubs, which will mean that they have to spend less time and money travelling. The new hubs will also make a big contribution to the council’s accommodation strategy and mean a reduction in the use of more expensive and less flexible offices elsewhere.

“Like all other authorities in the country, we are having to change the way we work with children and families in Herefordshire,” said Sharon Menghini, chair of the Herefordshire Children’s Trust and director of Herefordshire Council’s children’s services.  

She continued: “Children’s Trusts are strategic partnerships consisting of representatives from agencies and organisations who work with children and families. We think it is important to provide as many services as we can locally for children and families to be able to access them more readily.“
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“Children and families should only have to tell their story once.  That story should be shared and appropriate support and resources provided, regardless of which organisation is providing it.

“Herefordshire Council is leading on the building of the hubs, but the way they will operate is very much down to the Children’s Trust.  This is why the trust has been consulting with agencies, children and young people over the last 12 months.  

“Now that the location of the hubs has been agreed, we can begin the building programme, plan the way each hub will work and begin delivering excellent services to improve the lives of children and young people now and in the future.”

Young people across the county will be able to play a part in recruiting new employees for essential public services provided by Herefordshire Council and NHS Herefordshire.

The council’s youth services are offering young people the chance to be part of a young person’s recruitment panel. They will be provided with accredited training in a variety of skills, which will involve them in interviewing prospective new employees, most of which will be involved in health and social care.

Andy Preedy of Herefordshire Council said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for young people to learn about the interview process. The skills they will develop will hold them in good stead when applying for work or for places at university”.

Any young person, aged 13 to 19, from across the county who is interested in getting involved can attend a meeting on Thursday 11 March at the Castle Green Training Centre, Hereford from 4.30pm until 8pm. Or they can contact Hugo Sugg on (01432) 383008 or hsugg@herefordshire.gov.uk

Over 90 per cent of parents in Herefordshire have been offered their first choice of secondary school to which their child will go to in September. And 6 per cent have been offered their second preference.

When parents apply for a secondary school place with Herefordshire Council, they get the opportunity to list their three preferred choices of school.  Out of a total of 1654 applications, only 40 children have not been offered one of their first three choices, and this figure is likely to improve further as places are accepted or rejected and the appeals process begins.

Councillor Price, cabinet member for ICT, education and achievement, said:  “We have been working with schools to make sure admission places are available to meet local demand and are delighted to be able to offer so many of the county’s parents their first choice”.

Offers of primary school places are due to be made later this month.

Smokers across Herefordshire are taking the opportunity of No Smoking Day, on Wednesday 10 March, to quit smoking.  NHS Herefordshire’s Stop Smoking Service is preparing to help smokers through their new ‘Stub Buddies’ scheme, as they join millions of UK smokers who chose No Smoking Day to quit.

This year’s theme for No Smoking Day is “Break free, we can help” and the national initiative falls in the middle of NHS Herefordshire’s “Stub Buddies” campaign.  The local campaign provides quitters with a “buddy” who can provide practical help and support, along with tips, tricks and encouragement to ensure they quit smoking for good.  This builds on research that shows that scare tactics do not work as well as support and reward, and that having a “buddy” to give up with means you are twice as likely to stay quit.

Smokers who set a “quit date” with Herefordshire Stub Buddies by 31 March 2010 and manage to stay off cigarettes will qualify for a £15 feel-good reward such as a food hamper, a spa treatment or an activity voucher. PLUS they will be entered into an exciting prize draw!

Sarah Aitken, Herefordshire’s assistant director for public health, said: “More than one in every five of adults in Herefordshire smoke, and research has shown that over two thirds of them would like to stop.  No Smoking Day and Stub Buddies provide an excellent opportunity for them to do that.”  

To find out more about national No Smoking Day or Herefordshire ‘Stub Buddies’, pop along to High Town in Hereford from 9am to 3pm on Wednesday 10 March. Smokers can come along to have their carbon monoxide levels monitored and receive free information on how we can help them stop smoking.  Alternatively, log onto www.HerefordshireStubBuddies.co.uk.

Dan Tickle, chief executive of the charity No Smoking Day, which organises the annual campaign, said: “Good luck to all the smokers in Herefordshire who are breaking free on March 10 – remember you’re not alone. Take advantage of the support available; you’ll get friendly and expert advice to help you to stop smoking for good.”