While nobody wants their food party to go up in smoke, kitchen fire accidents don’t discriminate. You don’t need a commercial-sized range to feel the heat and be a victim of cooking fires. You might have the most costly or cheapest stove or cooktop, but this will not decrease or increase your odds of experiencing kitchen fires. At the end of the day, your practices will still dictate your chances.
So let’s talk about how to prevent kitchen fire accidents to protect you from this alarming disaster.
How to Prevent Kitchen Fires
Cooking is a prominent reason for house fires and fire-related injuries. Whether you’re preparing breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a quick snack for your household, practicing safe cooking behaviors and preventive measures can keep you from danger. Below are five valuable pointers for preventing kitchen fires to keep your family safe.
1. Keep your kids and pets at a distance
If you have kids, keep them at least three meters away from the stove for their safety. Pets should also be kept away from cooking surfaces so they do not catch fire or push things to the burners. Wooden utensils, curtains, food boxes, towels, and potholders should also be moved away from the stove to avoid fire accidents.
2. Keep your appliances clean
Look for food buildup or grease on your counters and kitchen appliances like deep fryers, toaster ovens, electric grills, and toasters. These appliances may develop a dangerous buildup of combustible compounds after many uses, so examine these surfaces occasionally. Use a mixture of baking soda and dish soap or oil-based cleaner to wash the food debris and grease.
3. Stay in the kitchen when cooking
This might look evident, but the National Fire Protection Association says unattended cooking is among the major culprits of kitchen fires. If you need to leave a stove unattended to do something urgently, turn off your range or cooktop and move the cooking pan to a cool burner or surface. Simple forgetfulness and neglect can set your kitchen space on fire, so never leave your kitchen unattended when cooking.
Otherwise, you’ll have to employ fire restoration professionals to fix the damage caused by cooking fires. You may browse the web to learn more about their services.
4. Install smoke alarms
Technically, smoke alarms don’t really prevent fires, but they are still a vital preventive measure that can save you and your family later. It’s an important device for fire safety and a reliable first line of defense. If your home doesn’t have one, do not postpone installing one. Regularly check your smoke alarm to guarantee it works properly, and remember to change its batteries twice a year when you do the same for your wall clock.
Having a smoke detector in the house helps you save money from employing post-restoration reconstruction services. It makes you proactive in extinguishing a fire before it becomes huge enough to consume your home, preventing any serious damage in the first place.
5. Unplug home appliances that are not in use
Mixers, air fryers, oven toasters, coffee makers, and the like continue to draw electricity when plugged in, even when not switched on. If their wiring is malfunctioning, old, or starting to tear apart, a fire might break out, so always unplug appliances when not in use.
