People in our society tend to rush to and from everything that they do. You wake up and rush to work, you rush to lunch, you rush home and then rush to bed. With this kind of hurried mindset it is easy to forget tiny things that turn into big disasters. It is not uncommon to turn away from a cooking job to answer the door and forget that the stove is still on. Only until the smoke detector goes off do you remember that you may have left something on the burner. If you’re home then it is a quickly remedied situation, but if no one was home then the entire house could be engulfed in flames before anyone notices the smoke.
The kitchen is the primary place in a home that is prone to accidental fires, but it was one place to practice good home fire prevention rules. There are a variety of types of kitchen fire that all require a different method of controlling it and extinguishing it. The most common kind of kitchen is called a dry kitchen fire. This is the kind of fire that results when a pan boils over and catches fire on the burner or when food residue in the oven catches fire. Dry kitchen fires generally burn out quickly on their own, but the heat produced can catch the area around it on fire and the smoke hangs around for a long time. Keeping the stovetop and the oven clean of all food residues is the best way to prevent these kinds of fires.
The other most common type of kitchen fire is a grease fire. These fires are extremely dangerous and can be very difficult to extinguish. Flames of a grease fire are generally very large and so the fire can jump from one area to another rapidly. Grease fires are a threat to the entire home because they spread so quickly. If the fire is manageable then the first step is to try and cut the fire off from oxygen. Turn off the stove and place a metal lid over the fire until the fire is out. If you don’t have a lid that will cover the fire then pour large amounts of baking soda on the flames. Baking soda is a great fire extinguisher
The third kind of fire takes place in the oven and is usually very easy to manage. Ovens are constructed to handle high amounts of heat and they have poor oxygen flow. These fires can usually be put out simply by turning off the oven and closing the door.
Of course you should always keep a fire extinguisher handy to keep your kitchen as safe as possible. If the fire ever becomes too big for you to safely manage by yourself then evacuate the building immediately and call the fire department. There is no reason to risk your own safety when professional fire fighters are just a phone call away.
