Safety tips to prevent kitchen cooking fires

Will you use these cooking safety tips to prevent kitchen fires?

Nothing beats a good old fashioned home cooked meal.

Perhaps you still have good memories of mom teaching you to cook when you were a child.

This is exactly the place to begin training on kitchen cooking fire safety.

This is serious stuff.

 

How serious?

Did you know that fire departments in the USA respond to about 156,000 home fires each year where cooking vessels were involved?

  • 156,000 fires a year
  • 5,080 injuries
  • 400 deaths
  • $853 million dollars in property damage

Now that we have your attention, lets dig deeper.

Since 2 out of 5 home fires start in the kitchen, (That is a whopping 43% by the way) this makes cooking pretty risky business.

How does a fire happen in the kitchen?

You might be interested to learn that:

  • The number one cause of fire was leaving food unattended on the stove. The lesson? Teach your children by example that we never leave food cooking on the stove under any circumstances.
  • Did you know that Two-thirds (67%) of home cooking fires started with the ignition of food or other cooking materials? Now you can see why its not good to leave the kitchen unattended with food on the stove.
  • This was interesting. While only 1% of these fires had clothing as the item first ignited, these incidents accounted for 15% of all cooking fire deaths. The lesson? So roll up those sleeves and wear a tightly drawn apron to prevent loose fitting clothes from catching fire.
  • What would you do if their was a kitchen fire in your home? Listen to this… About 55% of reported non-fatal kitchen fire injuries happened when the victims tried to put out the fire by themselves.
  • Yep, you guessed it. Frying food with oil has the greatest potential risk of starting a fire.
  • Most popular day to start a cooking fire in the kitchen? Thanksgiving!

What you should know and pass on to your children

  • Keep your eyes open and stay awake. So no cooking if you are sleepy or intoxicated.
  • Do not leave the kitchen when frying, boiling, etc.
  • Use a kitchen timer to remind you to turn off the stove when the food is done.
  • Keep all flammable items away from the top of the stove top — That means oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains etc. Remember that If it can burn, keep it away.
  • Clean the stove from grease after every use.
  • Keep a grease fire extinguisher handy in your kitchen.
  • Teach your children how to call 911.
  • Here is a good tip: Keep a lid nearby when you’re cooking to smother small grease fires. All you have to do to slide the lid over the pan and turn off the stove top. Then simply leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled off.
  • Be careful when cooking with oil. Heat oil slowly under a low flame. Remember that hot oil splatters!
  • If you have an oven fire turn off the heat and keep the door closed.
  • If its not safe to fight the fire, evacuate the house immediately and close the doors behind you to limit the flames from spreading faster.
  • Call 911 immediately.

Cooking should be enjoyable.

Teach your children how to use the kitchen safely and responsibly.

Teach them they can only cook when an adult is present.

Use these suggestions every time you make a meal for your family.

Here at insurancehub.com we care about our clients. That is why we share cooking safety tips like this to prevent kitchen fires. If you have any question about your home insurance or fire coverage please call us now. Our agents are standing by for your call.

Source: http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-consumers/causes/cooking/safety-messages-about-cooking