The Do's & Don'ts of Handling Grease Fires

2/6/2020 (Permalink)

To reach us anytime, call (802) 674-8004.

Enjoy cooking? Time in the kitchen can be fun but learning safe cooking techniques is important to prevent hazards such as grease fires. Cooking with oil requires special care; as oil begins to overheat, it will start to boil and smoke prior to catching fire. Seeing flames can excite feelings of panic but it’s important to take control of the situation quickly and know how to react to stay safe. Below are tips on what to do as well as what not to do in the event of a grease fire.

Do:

Shut off the heat.

If a fire breaks out, you may be tempted to remove the smoky pan from the burner. It’s important to fight that urge, as the burning oil could splash onto yourself or other surfaces. The droplets of hot oil still have the potential to start additional fires so, until the oil cools, leave the pot where it is and turn off the burner.

Have an extinguisher handy.

There should always be a working fire extinguisher in an easily accessible location in your kitchen at all times. After you turn off the stove, use the extinguisher if needed by pulling the pin, pointing the nozzle at the fire’s base and then pulling the trigger. The dry chemicals from the extinguisher will put out the fire.

Don’t:

Use water on the flames.

Instinct may tell you to put out the fire using water. While this of course works on regular fires, grease fires can’t be put out safely this way. This is because pouring the water could actually spread the grease fire to other areas. The intense heat of the burning grease could also cause the water to vaporize into harmful steam.

Open windows and doors until the fire is out.

Opening windows and doors to clear the smoke could cause the fire to become much worse. This is because the oxygen in the fresh air would fuel the flames, resulting in the need for more extensive fire damage repair.

If you need fire damage repair after a kitchen mishap, electrical problem, or other incident, contact the disaster recovery specialists at SERVPRO of Windham & Windsor Counties. In the event of a plumbing problem or flood, our team can also use our four decades of experience to provide water clean-up services. To reach us anytime, call (802) 674-8004.