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

1/14/2020 (Permalink)

Our Team Can Be Reached Anytime In The Event Of A Fire Damage By Calling: (800) 352-7251

It can be fun to experiment with cooking in the home kitchen, but some ingredients require special care to be used safely, like cooking oil. When using oil, watch the temperature, because when it overheats, it starts to boil and smoke before catching on fire. If you see flames, it’s natural to panic. To take control of the situation quickly and avoid the need for extensive fire damage repair, below are tips on what to do and what not to do when you have a grease fire.

Do:

Turn off the heat.

Once a fire breaks out, you might be tempted to remove the smoky pan from the stove burner. Fight the urge, as you could splash burning oil on yourself or other surfaces. The droplets are like embers, potentially igniting anything they land on. To prevent the fire from spreading, leave the pot where it is and turn off the burner.

Keep an extinguisher in the kitchen.

As a precaution, you should always have a working fire extinguisher in an easy-to-reach area of the kitchen. After you turn off the stove burner, pull the pin on the extinguisher and point the nozzle at the fire’s base before pressing the trigger. The dry chemicals released will put out the flames.

Don’t:

Use water on flames.

Unlike a regular fire, trying to douse grease fires with water could cause the flames to spread. That’s because pouring water on the oil could cause it to splash to other areas. The high temperature of burning grease also causes the water to vaporize into harmful steam.

Open doors and windows until the fire is out.

To clear the smoke, you might want to open doors and windows. Don’t do this until the fire is completely out. Otherwise, the oxygen in the fresh air coming in could 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 Cheshire County. 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 (800) 352-7251.