Cooking and Fire Safety - Tips to Preventing Kitchen Fires

 

Kitchen fires are the top cause of fires in the home, according to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA). Cooking equipment caused an “estimated 147,400 or 40 percent of residential fires each year between 2008 and 2010,” reported USFA.
We love to cook, and we love eat, but how can we protect ourselves from causing serious damage to ourselves and our Tulsa or Oklahoma City home? With a few tips on cooking equipment and kitchen safety, you can safely cook that perfect meal for your family and friends. So here are a few tips from the USFA to help Oklahomans keep safe and cook on.

1. Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of kitchen fires. Use a timer to remind you to check food when baking.
2. Do not wear loose clothing while you are cooking. If your clothes do catch on fire, remember to stop, drop, and roll. Immediately cool the burn for 3-5 minutes and cover with a clean, dry cloth.
3. Keep anything that can catch on fire away from the stove – potholders, plastic bags, wooden utensils, curtains, etc.
4. Keep the stovetop, oven, microwave, and burners clean. Spilled food and oil can cause fires on hot surfaces.
5. Use appliances for their intended purpose only. Plug all appliances directly into the wall outlet.
6. Always keep an oven mitt and lid nearby when cooking to quickly smother the flames if a grease fire starts by sliding the lid over the pan while wearing the oven mitt.
7. Use the back burner of a stove when possible and turn pot handles away from the stove’s edge to prevent spills and burns.
8. Never hold a child while cooking or carrying hot foods.
9. For barbecue grills, regularly clean the grease from any trays below the grill.
10. For charcoal grills, do not add charcoal starter fluid when coals have already been ignited, and dispose of the coals only after they are cool.

For more tips on keeping safe in the kitchen, visit http://www.usfa.fema.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/cooking.shtm.

Mac Systems in Tulsa and Oklahoma City can install and check to make sure you have the right smoke alarms and fire suppression systems.