Cleaning lady saves the day

At lunch time on Wednesday 21 January a guest at the CERN hostel put her food in the microwave oven and switched it on. "Within seconds I smelt plastic. I looked into the oven and saw flames. I switched it off, took my food out. But the flames continued and so I ran for the door." In the corridor she ran into Jane Kiranga, a cleaning lady working for the company ISS. Without hesitation Jane picked up a portable fire extinguisher, returned to the kitchen and stopped the fire. The Fire Brigade arrived a few minutes later and only needed to ventilate the kitchen. "Jane was just in time, because the flames had not left the oven yet. Her model behaviour deserves recognition," said the team leader on duty for the CERN Fire Brigade. A few days later Jane received a gift voucher from the Prevention and Training section of the Safety Commission (photo).