Your Digital Classroom Blog

Grease Fires, Safety and Prevention 101

Grease Fires are the #1 cause of home fires and home injuries. Do you know what to do if a grease fire breaks out on your stove? Do your children know what to do if they are at home alone and a grease fire or a fire starts? If not, please read the tips below to help prevent and stop a grease fire in your home.

What is a grease fire?

A grease fire is a fire that can start on top of the stove or in the stove as a result of cooking with grease. For instance, if you were cooking on the stove with butter in a pan or with oil in a pot or you had something in the stove that was cooking that had grease in the pan.

How do you deal with a grease fire?

If you experience a grease fire while you are cooking on or in the stove then you must follow the following steps.

Step 1 – Turn off the burner and get everyone out of the kitchen and if the fire is severe get everyone out of the house and call 911/EMS.
Step 2 – Stay clear of water! Pouring water on a burning grease fire will instantly evaporate the water causing tiny oil droplets to disperse/spread throughout your kitchen which will create a giant fire ball that will spread the fire everywhere. Watch this video to see how fast a grease fire can spread by putting water on it! https://youtu.be/E0RgdYkc_Po ABC News did a video segment on how a grease fire can be started.
Step 3 – Remove the oxygen that the fire needs to continue burning. If the fire does not have any oxygen the fire will go out. Use a metal lid or baking sheet for stove top fires and cover the pan on fire. Do not use a glass lid as it can explode or anything plastic as it can melt and also go on fire.
Step 4 – Use salt or baking soda for oven fires to smother the fire. You will need a lot of salt or baking soda to cover the fire properly. Do not substitute with other kitchen items as this could cause the fire to become bigger and/or explode. Watch this video to see how you can put out a grease fire with salt or baking soda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VoIMFyUi6Q howcast.com did a video segment on how to put a grease fire out with a class B fire extinguisher, a lid and baking soda.
Step 5 – Do not heat up any oils with a lid on top of the pot. If a fire starts inside of the pot and you lift the lid off, the oxygen now exposed to the heated oil can make the fire explode out of the pot.
Step 6 – Use a non-water fire extinguisher for stove fires.

Do you have a fire extinguisher in your home? Do you know how to use it and is it up-to-date?

Finally, do not carry the burning pan or pot outside because you could spill the burning grease and spread the fire through out the house.

We hope that these tips help you and your family in case there was ever a grease fire in your home. If you would like to learn more about safety for your children, you can visit our website at: www.yourdigitalclassroom.com where you can access our online children’s safety courses.

Take care everyone 🙂

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