16 Ways To Prevent Cooking and Cigarette Fires

11/13/2015 (Permalink)

Never leave a stove, grill, oven, or other cooking source unattended.

Cooking fires and cigarette fires can be devastating. Just as difficult can be realizing you could have prevented a fire in your home or business. Here are sixteen ways you can prevent accidental fires.

Preventing Cooking Fires
1. Cooking is the #1 cause of home fires in many communities. Usually it’s because someone’s left the cooking unattended. Never leave a stove, grill, oven, or other cooking source unwatched.
2. Many cooking fire injuries happen when people respond to kitchen fires inappropriately. For example, if you pour water on a grease fire you could make the fire worse. Always use an appropriate way to fight a fire.

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3. Keep the handles of all stovetop pots and pans turn in so small children or anything passing by the stove cannot grab or catch on the handles and cause a spill.
4. Examine the area around your stove. Move away anything (potholders, for example) that could catch fire if it fell on the stove. 
5. If you have a cooking fire in a pan smother the fire by sliding a lid over the pan. Then turn off the burner.
6. If the fire is in your oven, turn off the heat and keep the oven door closed.
7. If the fire is in a microwave, unplug the microwave or shut off the power and keep the microwave door closed.
8. Never discharge a portable extinguisher into a cooking pan. Doing so will only spread the fire.
9. Don’t carry a hot pot or pan of grease outside because it can lead to burns and scalding. Wait until the grease is no longer hot.

Preventing Cigarette Fires
10. Cigarettes are the leading cause of fire deaths on a national level.  Most cigarette fires are caused by improperly discarded smoking material (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc). These fires often start outside, then move to a structure.
11. Never smoke in bed or anywhere you might fall asleep.
12. Don’t smoke in a home where medical oxygen is present.
13. Smoke outside only.
14. Don’t discard cigarettes in potted plants, landscaping vegetation, or bark dust. All these materials can easily catch fire.
15. Use a deep, sturdy ashtray or a non-combustible container that cannot be tipped over.
16. Before throwing away butts or ashes, douse them in water or sand.

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