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Monday 12 May
18.10 Elizabeth Way,
Siston, Mangotsfield
A crew from Kingswood and one from Brislington were called to
what was believed to be a shed fire, however on arrival they found
a man in his late 30s suffering burns to his body after a fire
involving a BBQ.
First aid was started straightaway and one of the new trauma
packs was called for from station 10 Kingswood. Although the
new packs are not currently on the run, crews knew that they had
quantities of burns gel which could treat the casualty, quick
thinking which was praised by paramedics.
What is believed to have happened is that the man was attempting
to light the family's BBQ with flammable liquid, causing a flash of
flame. The BBQ was also placed next to a shed, which had a
petrol container inside that had been leaking vapours. The
build up of vapours in the shed also ignited and caused another
flash of flame, described as a small explosion by
eyewitnesses. These flashes resulted in the man suffering 40
per cent burns to the front of his body.
The man was taken to Frenchay Hospital by paramedics. WM
Tony Wittcomb said: "This was a serious incident that goes to
show just how dangerous BBQs can be if they are not used
correctly. We're planning to go back to the neighbourhood at
the weekend to carry out some community fire safety work, giving
people some simple tips on how to stay safe when using BBQs."
Tony and his crew visited the man at Frenchay later that night
when they went to pick up some service items that had travelled
with him hospital. Thankfully the man was in a stable
condition.
AF&RS wants people to enjoy the warm weather activities
safely, this includes cooking on BBQs. People can follow a
few simple tips to ensure their BBQ is a safety success:
- Position BBQs on a level site - away from
sheds, fencing, hedges or any other vegetation in the garden and
never directly on the grass.
- Only use BBQ fuel or lighters to light your
BBQ - never flammable liquid such as petrol or
paraffin.
- Like in the kitchen, never leave a BBQ unattended and
keep children and pets away from the cooking area.
- Never move a BBQ while it is alight or hot -
wait until it has cooled.
- Always keep some water on hand to deal with
any unexpected fire spread - fires can spread very quickly on open
dry ground.
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