A man has passed away after emollient cream made his clothes more flammable and were set alight by a gas heater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim Rownsley, of Kempton Gardens, is believed to have died after residue from the cream created a serious fire risk which he was not aware of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three fire engines attended to the incident on 20 February, where a thorough investigation was carried out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sherrie-Leigh Higgins, Jim\u2019s granddaughter, said: \u201cYou never think something like this is going to happen to your family until it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy grandad always used his gas heater to stay warm but we didn\u2019t know that the cream he used for his legs could be so dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jim\u2019s family are now committed to making more people aware of the dangers after losing their beloved grandad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emollient cream is used to treat common conditions like eczema and comes in forms such as lotions, gels and sprays, and many are unaware of the dangers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chris Tyler, Group Manager in South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue\u2019s community safety team, said: \u201cAs a service, we fully recognise the effectiveness and importance of emollient creams, and we also recognise that they are not flammable on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, a build-up of emollient cream residue on fabrics such as bedding, clothing, and dressings can make these already combustible items even more flammable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat this means is that in cases where somebody uses these creams on a regular basis and\/or spends an extended amount of time in their bed or armchair, their fire risk can increase dramatically.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A man has passed away after emollient cream made his clothes more flammable and were set alight by a gas heater. Jim Rownsley, of Kempton Gardens, is believed to have died after residue from the cream created a serious fire risk which he was not aware of. Three fire engines attended to the incident on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":699,"featured_media":65972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[415,21,55],"tags":[231,232,38],"class_list":["post-65971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-news","category-top-story-3","tag-community","tag-fire","tag-sheffield"],"yoast_head":"\n