ejcross.com

With the upcoming holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas upon us, there will be lots of cooking in the kitchen. Kitchen fires are a real problem and can lead to extensive damage of your home, not to mention the potential for loss of life.

Here are some statistics from the National Fire Protection Association for the year of 2006.

• Between 1999-2002, there were 114,000 reported home fires associated with cooking equipment every year, resulting in an annual 290 deaths and 4,380 injuries.
• Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home cooking fires.
• Three in 10 reported home fires start in the kitchen — more than any other place in the home.
• Two out of three reported home cooking fires start with the range or stove.
• Electric ranges or stoves have a higher risk of fires, injuries and property damage, compared to gas ranges or stoves, but gas ranges or stoves have a higher risk of fire deaths.

In the 20 years that I have been a firefighter, I have come across a lot of kitchen fires that could have been prevented with a little knowledge about safety in the kitchen. I hope that these tips will provide some useful information to you.

Never leave oil on the stove unattended.

Leaving cooking oil on the range top while you are not in the kitchen area is a leading cause of kitchen fires. Let’s say that you are heating the oil to make those wonderfully crisp french fries that you love. It only takes a few seconds for the oil to overheat, begin boiling out and now you have a fire.

If a small fire develops in a pot or pan, cover it with a lid, turn off the cooking element or burner and let it cool. If you don’t have lid handy, then you can use baking soda also.

Turn in those handles.

If you have pots or pans on the range top, be sure to turn the handles inward, and away from pointing into the open area of the kitchen. Not only can this help prevent little ones from grabbing a hot pot of water and dumping it on them, but it can also prevent someone from accidentally bumping a pot or pan and causing it to spill over.

Keep it clean.

Keeping your oven area and stove top clean are vital aspects of preventing a fire. Grease and other food buildup can eventually cause a fire from the residues that are left over time. Use the self-cleaning feature on your oven if it needs, and a good wipedown on the surface won’t hurt either.

Keep the door closed.

In the previous point I advised to use the self cleaning feature of your stove when the need arises. This can lead to another potential fire problem. If there is a substantial buildup in your stove, clean out the bigger “chunks” of food particles prior to using the self cleaning feature.

This will prevent heating the larger “chunks” to the point where they could catch fire. If there is a fire in the oven, do not attempt to open the door and exit the area. The safest bet is to call your local fire department and have them check it for you.

Have a few safety items in your home.

There are three things that I recommend you have to improve your fire safety in the kitchen and your home in general.

• Get a fire extinguisher. You don’t need a huge one, a 5 or 10 pound extinguisher can be picked up at your local home goods store, such as Wal-mart, Home Depot or other shopping places.
• Have and test your smoke detectors. Just having a smoke detector doesn’t do any good if you don’t test it regularly. Smoke detectors should be tested at least monthly to ensure proper operation. Be sure to change the batteries also. A good reminder of this is when you spring forward or fall back with your time change, you should also change the batteries.
• Have a carbon monoxide detector. If you home uses any gas appliances, such as a furnace, water heater or cooking appliances, you should have a carbon monoxide detector. Carbon Monoxide is an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas that is produced when using fossil fuels such as propane or natural gas. This could prevent you from being a statistic to a silent killer.

In conclusion

This is not an all inclusive list by any means for issues relating to kitchen fire safety. There are many aspects that go into being safe while cooking in the kitchen. I only hope that one person learns something new by reading this article, and if it prevents a fire and subsequent damage, then I am happy with that.

If you have any fire safety questions, contact your local fire department and ask for some guidance. They should be more than happy to help you out!

Share this article:

Thanks for stopping by and visiting ejcross.com! Did you like what you found? You can subscribe to my RSS feed or use the Trackback URL. Thanks!