Kitchen Fire Prevention

From LoveToKnow Safety

Following kitchen fire prevention and safety methods results in a safer home by reducing the chance of a fire starting in the kitchen.

Kitchen Fires

According to statistics from the International Fire Chiefs Association and FEMA, kitchen fires account for approximately 30-45 percent of all home fires. Many kitchen fires have devastating results including:

  • Loss of personal property
  • Personal injury
  • Death

The majority of kitchen fires are caused by cooking. Many of them can be avoided if proper safety measures and precautions are followed.

The Kitchen Stove

The most dangerous appliance in your kitchen is the stove. However, the stove itself is not the problem. The danger comes from the combination of an open cooking flame, or red-hot electric burner, combined with carelessness, bad habits or inadequate fire prevention knowledge.

The following tips will help reduce the chances of a kitchen fire that is cooking related.

  • Never leave your cooking unattended. This is especially true if you are cooking using any of the following methods:
    • Frying
    • Broiling
    • Grilling
  • When you are using your oven, check on the food often.
  • If a fire starts in the oven, keep the door closed until the fire burns out.
  • Keep your stove clean and free of any grease build up, including the vent areas
  • If a food catches fire in a pot or pan, turn the burner off and use a pot lid to smother the fire.
  • Never store things in or on your stove. Keep the areas free of dishtowels, food packages and anything else that is combustible.
  • Do not wear loose clothing, or clothing with long, loose sleeves, while you are cooking. This type of clothing can catch fire easily.

Grease Fires
  • A grease fire ignites and spreads very quickly. Never put water on grease or electrical fires. Putting water on a grease fire can cause it to splash and spread. Use one of the following methods to put out a grease fire:
  • Smother the fire with a pan lid. A metal lid is preferred since a glass lid may crack or break from the high temperature of the fire.
  • Smother the fire with baking soda. Many people keep a box of baking soda next to their stove in case of a grease fire.
  • Although the chemicals will contaminate your food and the kitchen area, a dry chemical fire extinguisher will put out a grease fire.


Kitchen Fires and Small Appliances
  • Always keep toasters, toaster ovens and other small appliances clean and free of crumbs or a buildup of grease.
  • Always unplug a small appliance before cleaning it.
  • Check wires and plugs for any signs of fraying or cracking.
  • If a fire starts in the microwave keep the door closed until it has burned out.
  • Avoid overloading electrical outlets.

More Kitchen Fire Prevention Safety Tips
  • Keep a Class B fire extinguisher in the kitchen. Make certain it is full and the date has not expired.
  • Keep the pot handles turned toward the middle of the stove top.
  • Never use your oven or stove top to heat the room.
  • Keep young children away from cooking areas.

October is Fire Prevention Month: Change Smoke Alarm Batteries

The month of October is Fire Prevention Month. This is a great time to follow the advice of fire experts throughout the nation and change the batteries in all of the smoke alarms in your home. Many people make it a practice to change their smoke alarm batteries in October at the same time they turn back their clocks for Daylight Savings Time.

Make sure to test the smoke alarm after putting in the new batteries to make sure it is working properly. Another important fall safety tip is to change the batteries in your emergency flashlights at the same time as the batteries in the smoke detectors.

Being aware of kitchen fire prevention methods will greatly reduce the chances of a kitchen fire. However, if a fire does begin, use your common sense. If it is not easily extinguished, or you feel you are in any danger, evacuate the house and call 911 immediately.

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Comments

StoveOnAlert.com has developed two kitchen fire prevention tools. We are former search and rescue professionals. For those who have a computer with speakers, you can now activate a 3 minute repeat alert that reminds you that your stove is on in the event you become distracted from the stove. It is estimated that there were 14,000,000 unreported stove-top fires in the U.S. and Canada last year (about one in every 10 households)

How often has the phone or doorbell rung or a child interrupted you while you were cooking, causing you to forget about the chicken you left sizzling on the stove - until smoke filled the house?

If this scenario or a similar one doesnt sound familiar to you, you may want to think about it a little more because its likely that you, and every member of your family who has spent time behind the stove has run the risk of having a dangerous life threatening house fire and on more than one occasion! Ask your loved ones, your friends and your co-workers. We think you will be surprised.

Our other unit is a wearable clip-on with a built in speaker that also reminds occupants every 3 minutes that the stove is on in the event of an unexpected distraction from the stove. Every one has been distracted from the stove from time to time ... our products serve well as a safety backup for teens, spouses, those with slight dementia and for the elderly community. Although these products are important as an extra safety measure ... one should remember to turn the stove off when leaving the kitchen if even for a minute. A government fire survey recorded that unattended cooking is one of the leading causes of kitchen fires. From the 69% of reported house fires, - 54% were in another room in the house. - 20% left the house with the burner on. - 9% were outside in yard or on premises. - 7% were in the kitchen. Never leave your stove unattended and never put out an oil based fire with water!!

It is important to know the devastating effects a fire can have on families, homes and communities.

The tragedy of fire is very far-reaching. The death of a loved one due to a preventable fire rips at the very core of a family & the surrounding community. You need to do everything possible to prevent the opportunity for fire to occur in your home. In fact, most fires are preventable - educate yourself on ways to protect your family.

StoveOnAlert.com can help to remind you that your stove is on so that a fire does not happen in the first place.

Stay safe!

-- Contributed by: StoveOnAlert.com fire prevention

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