Quality Living Styles

Prevent Cooking Fires

Fires in the home can be devastating. People and pets die as a result of fires. Those lucky to have escaped a burning home may still suffer injuries due to severe burns. Important papers, treasured valuables, photographs and everything one owns can be destroyed in a short time.

On 2 ocassions I felt extremely relieved that I was close to the stove and prevented what could have been destructive fires. On the first ocassion, I was adding vegetables to a pot on the stove that contained onions, tomatoes and oil. There may have been a few droplets of water in the vegetables that I was adding. That reacted with the oil, and the next thing I saw was large flames that came leaping up. This is a gas stove where the flame is in view. In my opinion this is more dangerous than an electric stove.

Our microwave is built in and the stove and microwave come as combined unit. When the flames leaped out, it damaged the microwave and there were dark smoky patches in the microwave. Luckily I was there and used a dishcloth to quickly switch off the stove and move the pan from the heat. The flames died down. But we did have to replace the microwave which cost $200. The loss could have been much more if I was not right there.

I often use a dish cloth or pot holder while I cook. In my haste I put the dishcloth on the counter next to the stove and did not notice that one end of the cloth had touched the flame and was alight. I smelt the burning cloth and quickly threw it into the sink.

Again, if I was not right there, that could have resulted in a huge fire.

It is for these reasons I was happy to see a very nice set of tips to prevent cooking fires.

Here is a link to the, List of Cooking Safety Tips

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