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Now, there’s nothing personal, but fire fighters would really rather not join you for dinner. But too often we have to.
During the course of last year, we have responded to far too many calls for fires originating in the kitchens. While we have been fortunate with no loss of life, we have had to deal with burns, smoke inhalations and other injuries.
During 1995, (most recent year for available Canadian Fire Statistics), there was an overall drop in the number of fires and the dollar losses resulting from fire. The bad news was the huge increase in the number of cooking and kitchen-related fires. The majority of these fires were avoidable with most the result of negligence and carelessness.
Because these types of fire are so preventable, Fire Departments are paying particular attention to kitchen fire safety and making sure that residents are careful and conscientious when using stoves and other heating devices.
Across Canada, cooking has become the number one cause of home fires, surpassing smoking which used to be the principle problem. Most of these kitchen fires (about 85 per cent) start on stoves and the majority are linked to the improper use of oils for deep fat frying.
On electric range tops, the burners are not thermostatically controlled and will continue to produce more and more heat. Any oil heating in a pan will eventually reach its ignition temperature and a fire will result.
Should a fire start, the first moments are critical. The way for a resident to deal with this is, with out endangering yourself, shut off the burner and slide the lid onto the pan to smother the fire. Shutting off the burner removes the source of heat, while covering the pot removes the supply of oxygen to the fire. Too often residents do what seems natural and remove the pan from the stove and throw water on the fire. Many people have been splashed by hot burning oil while attempting to move the pan to the sink. Even placing the pan in the sink can result in serious consequences. Pouring water on an oil based fire causes a tremendous increase in the intensity of the fire and heat. The fire will spread and result in significant loss.
A fire extinguisher can be useful, however, one must be careful as the contents are under pressure and if used improperly the hot oil can be spread outside the pan resulting in additional damage and possible injury. Baking soda may also be effective, if sprinkled on the burning pan, however, extreme care must be exercised not to expose oneself to potentially serious burns from the flames.
In Canada, a fire takes place every eight minutes and 422 people died by fire in 1995. Most of these fires were in residences and they accounted for 78 per cent of the fire deaths. Total losses, (direct property damage), amounted to $1.18 billion.
Since many of these fires started in the kitchen, it is food for thought because most kitchen fires are avoidable.
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