Gerald Exclusive! Men and women are different

Quinn sets out demands for labour

Those opposing Valentine's Day "sad, hairy virgins"

Water supplies to be carbonated by 2004 - FG

Delegates' confusion at "recent events" speech

X-ray Hotel guests claim false advertising

Somezing cooking vith zelebrity KP, Gustavo

Plastic Surgery For All

Top Trumps 2001

Damn! That homeless guy was really cute

PR guru appalled by Harney flight

War looms in the Wesht

TV blamed for Ulster outrages

US army intercepts Bray teenager

  Unattended Chip Pan Doesn’t Go On Fire

In the increasingly complacent modern society we live in, it is lucky that we can still have instances that illustrate that technology can sometimes be a good servant, but a cruel master.

As Theresa Logan, Drimnagh began preparations for dinner yesterday, she was unaware of the valuable lesson that she would soon come close to learning. At 4.15pm, she switched on her chip pan to allow the oil to heat, while in the meantime peeled some carrots. Some ten minutes later, the oil having now heated sufficiently, Mrs Logan removed the basket from the pan and filled it with frozen chips. "At that point, I heard the phone ring," said a visibly unshaken Mrs Logan, "so I put the basket into the pan quickly, and re-attached the lid rather clumsily".


Chip pan fire: what didn't happen to Mrs Logan

She then ran from the kitchen to the hallway where she answered the phone, closing the kitchen door behind her – an action that would turn out to be benign in the extreme. "My sister Kate was on the phone, and we hadn’t spoken in a few days, so I hardly noticed the time passing at all. She had just finished telling me about the County Council filling that big pothole outside her house, when I realised that I had been on the phone for several minutes!"

Well-trained in fire prevention techniques, Mrs Logan cursed her negligence before springing into action. "Jesus Kate! I have to go – the chip pan’s surely on fire!" she screamed, before running to her bathroom and soaking a bath towel in cold water. She then slowly opened her kitchen door and crawled in on her hands and knees to avoid smoke inhalation. What she encountered chilled her to the very soul – a completely smoke-free room, apart from a few plumes of steam from the pan drifting out an open window.

"It’s strange to think how far from complete destruction I came,’ she commented. ‘The chips were nicely done too."

 
 

 

 

Home
    Back issues     Breaking news     Story archives     About