How many chip pan fires are there in a year?

They occur mostly by old fashioned chip pans which are oil in a saucepan with a basket sitting in it heated over gas or an electrical hot plate. The reason they happen is that when the oil gets too hot it goes on fire. With these old fashioned pans there is no way to regulate the heat. New electrical chip pans have thermostats in them so the heat will turn off when it reaches the required temperature.