Woman Suffers "Severe" Burns In Thurrock

1 September 2014, 07:26 | Updated: 1 September 2014, 07:28

A woman has been left with "severe burns" to her face, arms and chest after trying to put out a chip pan fire in Thurrock.

Emergency services were called to Gideons Way in Stanford le Hope just after midday yesterday. They say the woman was treated injured after throwing water on the fire.

Sub Officer Kevin Hercock, incident commander, said: "Incidents like this show how dangerous it is to throw water on burning fat. The water causes the fire to flare up and become much larger and in this case the woman was left suffering terrible burns as a result of throwing water on the fire.

"Incidents like this show how quickly an everyday activity like cooking can become extremely dangerous unless care is taken. It is vital that people pay attention when they're cooking and that if a chip pan or frying pan does catch fire that they never ever throw water on it."

The fire service says the best thing to do if a fire does break out on a pan is to throw a damp tea towel over it, leave the kitchen closing the door behind you, get everyone safely out and dial 999.