Firefighters extinguish kitchen fire in Holytown

Firefighters extinguished a kitchen fire in Holytown this morning (Friday 1 July).

A team was sent into the house wearing breathing apparatus and the firefighters used a high pressure jet to quickly put -out the flames.

The incident happened around 5:35am at a semi-detached home in Thistle Gardens.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) crews gave oxygen therapy to a woman who was suffering from the effects of breathing in smoke and requested the Scottish Ambulance Service attend.

The casualty received a check-up from paramedics at the scene but did not need to go to hospital.

Firefighters conducted cutting away operations and used a thermal imaging camera to search for any fire spread hidden within the building’s structure.

Crews from Bellshill, Coatbridge and Motherwell attended the incident and firefighters left the scene around 9:35am.

Most house fires start in the kitchen and SFRS is clear it can happen to anyone, so everyone needs to understand the risks and take steps to prevent emergencies.

They know a moment’s distraction is all it can take for a potentially serious fire to begin.

The advice from firefighters is never to step away from a cooker without first removing pots and pans from the heat and making sure both the hob and grill are switched off.

Items like kitchen roll and towels, which could easily catch fire, should always be kept well away from the cooker.

If a fire does happen then early warning saves lives, meaning working smoke alarms are essential devices that no home can ever afford to go without.

By making people aware of the emerging danger smoke alarms buy vital time for everyone to get to safety.

Householders are also advised to consider having a heat alarm installed within the kitchen, where these devices provide early-warning of fire without activating due to small amounts of cooking-related smoke.

Early warning means earlier 999 calls, giving firefighters a better chance of saving people and preventing a fire from spreading.

Free home fire safety visits are available from SFRS by calling the freephone number 0800 073 1999, by texting ‘FIRE’ to 80800 or by filling in an online form at www.firescotland.gov.uk.

During a visit, firefighters check to ensure the home is protected by working smoke detection and will even provide and install smoke alarms where the life-saving devices are found to be needed.