Kitchen fires are normal incidents in our day to day life. Fire is a sign of danger and a kitchen fire can turn into a nightmare at any given moment. We must be very careful to make sure our kitchen is safe from issues like a kitchen fire. First, we have to understand the cause of kitchen fires and then we will learn about how to prevent kitchen fires. There are two different stages with fire. First comes the prevention measures and then comes the cure or how to stop a kitchen fire. We all know that prevention is better than cure. So we will discuss the prevention methods first.
Preventing a fire from starting in our kitchen should be our top priority. There are lots of precautions that we can take to prevent a kitchen fire. We must put sufficient efforts to make sure that we know as much as possible. Knowledge is power and knowledge on how to prevent kitchen fire can save our lives and valuable assets. We have tried our level best to collect all the important points together and give you a complete list. Some of them may appear more important over the other but careful labeling them like that. A single spark can lead to great fire so they are all equally important. Let’s start with the list of how to prevent burns in the kitchen.
Steps associated with how to prevent kitchen fires are listed below:
- Do not leave your cooking unattended
- Set a timer to remind about cooking
- Know your stove
- Smoke detector
- Keep your appliances clean
- A toaster must have a pop-up feature
- The electric sockets must not be crowded
- Handle the oven carefully
- Do not wear loose clothing
- Keep your kids out of the kitchen
- Clear the burner area
- Turn off the burner
- Do not move the pan away
- Never think of putting water on a burning pan
- Closing the fire with a lid
- Baking Soda works great
- A fire extinguisher of rating ABC
- Leave your home
- Call 911
Do not leave your cooking unattended
It takes time to prepare and cook food. In this age of hyperactivity, we are often tempted to leave cooking unattended to check on something or do something else. This is a dangerous habit as with this switch of activity, we can forget about the cooking. Our forgetful nature can make things worse and can become a cause of great trouble. It is never wise to leave cooking unattended. In order to prevent kitchen fires, we must be willing to sacrifice something. Finally, this was our first step of kitchen fire prevention and make sure you do not skip over it.
Set a timer to remind about cooking
We have already mentioned that you should not leave your kitchen unattended while cooking. If there is something that will require a long time, and you can not simply commit to staying that long in the kitchen. Then you must set a timer to remind you about the cooking. There are numerous examples of kitchen fire incidents due to this individual reason. The alarm must be very loud so that there is no chance that you can miss the reminder too.
Let’s enjoy a short video about how to put out kitchen fires:
Know your stove
Knowing your kitchen appliances is another important step. Better knowledge about your kitchen appliances can help you become a smart user of them and become more productive. Apart from that, this knowledge can also keep you safe. There are various kitchen stove models and some of them allow to store things inside, while others simply don’t. In case you have the model which do not allow you to store things and you use it to store things without knowing. This can open the path to ignite a kitchen fire. Even if the stove allows to store thing still it is recommended not to store things that can easily catch fire. So, learn more about your stove while you learn about kitchen fire prevention.
Smoke detector
Smoke detectors are tools to keep us precautious about fires. Install the smoke detector smartly so that it can detect the fire early enough and ring the bell for you. You may forget to change the batteries of your smoke detector. Make sure this does not happen by changing them periodically. You can also test your smoke detector from time to time to check if it is functional. Sometimes these rarely used things do not work when they are needed the most. So be cautious from every angle.
Keep your appliances clean
Keeping kitchen appliances clean is a very good practice. This will keep you safe from diseases and also from unwanted issues. You must keep your kitchen appliances clean and repair them periodically so that they are always free of trouble. Kitchen appliances can become fire-prone due to our ignorance. Ovens, stove, toaster, and coffee maker they all have their cleaning methods make sure you follow them correctly. A toaster will usually accumulate lots of bread crumbs and if overheated they can catch fire very easily. To wrap up, clean your kitchen appliances regularly.
A toaster must have a pop-up feature
Toasters are a useful tool but they can be the cause of great danger. Toaster with the pop up feature will keep you safe as they will pop the toast up when they are done. If you are familiar with normal toaster then you should know how often the bread catches on fire. So toasters with a pop up feature is another must-have to stay safe from fire.
The electric sockets must not be crowded
Crowding the electric socket is another cause of accidents. Overcrowded electric sockets can generate sparks and those sparks can lead to dangerous kitchen fires. Apart from that powering multiple devices from the same port will create extra pressure on that particular port. Devices have different power requirements and it is always recommended to keep the supply lines free from troubles. Finally, make sure your socket can handle the pressure that you are putting on it.
Handle the oven carefully
Ovens are an important kitchen appliance and it can also cause kitchen fire if not handled properly with care. Do not put something in the oven that is not meant to be in there. You must be aware of the label that says oven safe. Only oven-safe materials are safe to use in the oven. Otherwise, something unexpected may happen and it can have severe consequences.
Do not wear loose clothing
Wearing loose clothing in the kitchen while cooking is something you must be aware of. Loose clothing can get in contact with the burner and catch on fire. It is better if you use special dress while cooking. It will keep your regular dress clean and also keep you safe from unwanted accidents. Sometimes the good practices are hard to come by but we should all adopt them to keep us safe against all odds.
Keep your kids out of the kitchen
Kids are unpredictable and they can lead to events that are completely unexpected. We all know that kids are super curious and they do not know a lot like the adults. We have experience and know the effects of our actions while kids do not have them. Moreover, they can do all sorts of crazy things that we do not even think about. So be careful of your kids and keep them out of the kitchen to prevent kitchen fires. We recommend you to go through “Kitchen safety for kids”. It is another brilliant article with lots of valuable information.
Clear the burner area
The burner area must be clean. First of all, we often leave the pot-holder and food packaging near the burner. We focus on the tasks at hand and those flammable materials are left close to the burner. These are some of the common mistakes and avoiding them will keep you on the safe side. It may not always be the case that your pot-holder caught fire but there are such incidents, right? Finally, if you follow this right, it will help you to prevent kitchen fires.
Even after you have done everything right, still a fire can start and early detection of that fire will give you the much-needed advantage to stop it. A grease fire on a pan is one of the most common fire incidents in our kitchen. Lots of people have experience with it. Some of those experiences are better titled as nightmares. During a grease fire, you must not panic and remain very calm. A grease fire has the highest potential to set the whole kitchen on fire. So grease fire needs special attention while we are discussing “kitchen fires prevention”.
Turn off the burner
First and foremost, try to turn off the burner. Before thinking of anything else, this should be your top priority to turn off the burner. After that carefully follow the next steps ahead.
Do not move the pan away
Fire undoubtedly leads to panic but as we have already discussed that you must remain calm to tackle this issue. First of all, it will be a natural tendency to move the pan away from the burner but there is a big no. Do not even attempt to move the pan away. As the hot pan will be difficult to handle the oil may spill in any direction including your hands and body. The kitchen has lots of woods in it so with the spilled fire and oil they will catch fires too. Imagine what it can lead to. Finally, do not ever think about moving the pan away.
Never think of putting water on a burning pan
You might be tempted to put water on that fire but not in this case. First of all, putting water on a grease fire will power up the fire and the spatter from it, will further spread the fire in more places. Finally, never entertain the idea of putting water on a grease fire.
Closing the fire with a lid
Closing the pan with a lid is another excellent option to smother the fire. First of all, do not use lids made of glass as they can shatter due to the heat. Secondly, the lid must close the fire completely, it must be airtight otherwise partial closing will not help you in any way. Finally, make sure you have proper lids to close your pans, as closing pans with lids is a great way to smother kitchen fires.
Baking Soda works great
Baking soda is a great agent to deal with kitchen fires specially grease fires. First of all, keep the baking soda close in the kitchen. Secondly, at the time of grease fire hold yourself together and put baking soda on top of the fire. Finally, you have to put a lot of them to ensure the fire is completely covered and gone.
A fire extinguisher of rating ABC
ABC rated fire extinguishers are adequate to put down a grease fire. First of all, the best practice is to keep one of those fire extinguishers in your kitchen. It will keep you safe from all the odds of a kitchen fire. Secondly, make sure you target the fire properly while using the fire extinguisher. Finally, prior drills with the fire extinguisher will give you the upper hand at the time of the real crisis.
Leave your home
If somehow you can not manage to put the fire down and things start to go out of hand leave your home. Just do what you can and leave the kitchen. Stay outside until the help arrives. Above all, you must prioritize your safety.
Call 911
Do not think of calling 911 as your last resort. If you follow all the above-mentioned steps on kitchen fire precaution, then there should not be any fire. Accidents can happen at any time. Calling 911 during an emergency should be your primary thinking. Call 911 to ask for help while doing your best to put the fire out. Do not try to be brave and take risks that are not worth taking.
Final Word
That was certainly a lot of information. Fire safety should be one of our top priorities. We have mentioned earlier and it is worth mentioning again that to be fire safe the prevention of fire is the best step. In this guide of how to prevent burns in the kitchen, we have exclusively discussed everything in detail. We have made the effort to keep you safe from all odds. Now it is your turn to internalize them and make the best use of them.
You can also read: How To Clean A Kitchen Fast
