A MAN was led to safety by fire crews in Beaconsfield in the early hours of this morning after falling asleep on his sofa as a pan of bacon caught fire in the kitchen.

Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said he had come home from a night out and was making a sandwich while he watched the Winter Olympics on television.

Two crews from Beaconsfield Fire Station were called to the fire in a flat at Wilton Court, Crossways, at 1.50am.

They had to break into the home to get the man out safely.

Watch Manager Terry Johnson said: “When we arrived, the hallway outside the flat was starting to fill with smoke and there was a small of burning.

“He wasn’t answering his door, so we had to force an entry with a sledgehammer.”

They woke the man, who was starting to suffer from the effects of breathing in smoke, and led him out of the flat to safety.

Firefighters cleared the smoke from the flat and the corridor with a powerful fan and gave the man fire safety advice after he had been seen by paramedics.

Watch Manager Johnson added: “More than half of all house fires start in the kitchen, and it’s never a good idea to start cooking in the early ours of the morning when you have been out for the night.”

Firefighters were also concerned that there wasn’t a door between the kitchen and living room, meaning smoke quickly started to spread through the flat.

Terry Ridgley, head of Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service’s community safety team, said: “People often remove these doors to create a more open-plan feeling, but we would recommend they are left in place so that they can slow down the rate at which the fire develops.

“It only takes a moment’s distraction while cooking for something like this to happen, and it only takes a few lungfuls of smoke to render you unconscious.”

He offered the following kitchen safety tips:

 Don’t cook when you’re tired or if you’ve been drinking. If you are hungry, have something that doesn’t need to be cooked.

 Don’t leave pans unattended. Take them off the heat if you have to leave the room. Fire starts when your attention stops Check that you have turned off the oven, cooker or hob when you have finished cooking.

 Keep the oven, hob and grill clean. A build-up of fat and grease can easily catch fire.

 Don’t put anything metallic inside the microwave.

 Take care if you are wearing loose clothing – it can easily catch fire.

 Don’t overload sockets – use one plug in each socket. If you have to, use a fused adaptor and keep the total output to no more than 13 amps.

 Remember – high-rated appliances like washing machines always need their own socket.

 Keep electrical leads and appliances away from water.

 Check the toaster is clean and is away from curtains and kitchen rolls.

 Turn off electrical appliances when they are not being used and service them regularly.

 When you’ve finished cooking, make sure the cooker or oven is turned off.

 Don’t use matches or lighters to light gas cookers. Spark devices are safer.

 Turn saucepan handles so they don’t stick out from the hob.

 Keep the oven door shut.

 Keep electrical leads, tea towels and cloths away from the cooker.

 The kitchen isn’t a play area – don’t leave children on their own in the kitchen, and keep matches and saucepan handles out of their reach.