Do you know how to put out a grease fire quickly and safely? Her years of experience include working in the field alongside her team helping home and business owners deal with the aftermath of water, fire and mold damage. If you are not trained to put out fires get yourself and others out of the home and leave it to the professionals. 0 0. Grease fire in the sink is even worse!! Thanks! 1 decade ago. 3 0. pyro paintballer. To help prevent the spread of a grease fire, use a damp cloth to wipe your counters before, during and after cooking with oil, Dr. Biberdorf says. The grease begins to overheat, produces smoke, and — before you know it — it catches on fire. If a grease fire does start, never, ever douse it with water or any other kind of liquid in an attempt to extinguish it. Stay safe while you’re cooking, and keep that extinguisher handy. If the fire doesn’t go out in 30 seconds, use the extinguisher. Turn off the burner if you suspect the grease is getting too hot. Water: In some cases, water is not the best fire extinguisher. Cleaning up after a grease fire isn’t easy. YES you can start a grease fire on an electric cook top stove. It’s O.K. Third, have a dry chemical fire extinguisher handy whenever grilling. Thanks! There is, instead of the flash point, the ignition temperature or what is sometimes called the autoignition temperature . Instead, start with these steps to put out a grease fire: Turn off the source of heat. As the founder of ServiceMaster by Zaba in Chicago, Illinois, Diana is IICRC certified in both fire and water damage restoration. What you do to put out the grease fire can either work for you or against you, so we encourage you to keep the following grease fire safety tips in mind. While the oven helps contain the flames if a fire starts, it can still spread to other parts of the home. A special fire extinguisher or baking soda should be used to suffocate and stop the spread of grease fires in the kitchen. Flames in the kitchen can turn into a house fire in less than 30 seconds. Opening it feeds oxygen to the flames inside and exposes you to intense heat. Never use any of the following on a grease fire. Small grease fires can be extinguished several ways. Stay in the kitchen and keep an eye on the deep fryer or frying pan. In general, smoking points for most oils ranges from 350 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Try to remove oxygen from the flame by covering with another pot or a baking pan. For example, propane, natural gas, gasoline and kerosene fires are types of Class B fires. With two prime locations, we are uniquely positioned to provide a rapid 24 hour response to fire and water damage emergencies in all of Chicagoland and suburbs including Evanston, Northbrook. Most vegetable oils have a smoking point around 450°F, while animal fats like lard or goose fat will start smoking around 375°F. The fuel is supplied by the hearth board eroding and creating punk: fine, dark brown powdery stuff. Slowly heat the oil to your desired temperature. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Grease fires can easily ignite in gas and electric ovens. The kitchen is a prime spot for house fires to start. Chicago’s largest fire restoration company, Image: State Farm via Flickr / CC by S.A. 2.0, Your Complete Career Guide to Becoming a Water Damage Restoration Technician, What to Do After a Condo Fire: 5 Critical Steps to Recovery, Discarded Latex Gloves Don’t Belong in the New Normal, southeast of the Illinois Holocaust Museum. Follow these five simple tips for preventing grease fires. You’ve started to warm up the grease to sauté some delicious meat or vegetables, and suddenly you get distracted by a phone call or someone ringing the doorbell. Class B fire extinguishers work on most kitchen fires, but Class K extinguishers are formulated for safe use on combustible cooking liquids. A grease fire happens when your cooking oil becomes too hot. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Smother the fire with baking soda, salt or sand, and close the lid. Once the liquid overheats, it begins to smoke and quickly reaches a temperature that causes it to combust. If the grill flares up, turn off the fuel source immediately. Last Updated on July 15, 2020 by Diana Rodriguez-Zaba. Observe the pot. With the fire moving beyond the stovetop and other areas beginning to burn, a denser plume of hot air and … There's a lot of different ways. Quick Action Can Stop a Grease Fire. A grease fire can begin raging out of control in mere seconds once it starts. At this point, your apartment will begin to fill with a thick black smoke. How Does a Grease Fire Start? The little box in your refrigerator may not be sufficient. Stay calm. Our Chicago, IL office is located in Logan Square, just west of Wrigley Field and nearby Humboldt Park. Website designed & developed by Bright Valley Marketing. How does one become a fire investigator? Backyard chefs need to be vigilant too. Techniques that put out ordinary fires make grease fires worse. This method works well on frying pans and larger pots. Shout out an alarm to everyone inside, and follow these steps. A dirty grill can mean pooling oil and grease that can ultimately flare up. Even small grease splatters can create a fire by coming in contact with electric or gas burners. National Fire Protection Association Many grease fires start from leaving pans of hot oil unattended while performing other tasks in the kitchen. As Chicago’s largest fire restoration company, we have years of experience helping homeowners deal with the aftermath of grease fires. If you have followed the above directions precisely, however, your grease fire will be too powerful even for your cute little red fire extinguisher to manage; after being briefly subdued, the flames will leap even higher than before. Make sure you and everyone in the house knows how to use the extinguisher in case of an emergency. The oxygen is provided by Mother Nature. 1 0. I know about the dangers about grease fires and how to not use water and that I should turn off the heat and use baking soda. The CALL7 Investigators observed a controlled test that shows how quickly grease fires can flare up and spread. Stick with recommended oil temperatures by monitoring grease with a cooking thermometer. Do not attempt to touch it until you are certain the fire is out and it has cooled. Never use a wet oven mitt, as it presents a scald danger if the moisture in the mitt is heated. To create a fire you need heat, fuel, and oxygen. What you do to put out the grease fire can either work for you or against you, so we encourage you to keep the following grease fire safety tips in … If you smell smoke or burning oil, don’t stop to investigate. Always keep a potholder, oven mitt and lid handy. If it's something like grease, it could start fire. Yes, it would be moronic to believe otherwise. Your home is full of objects and materials that can combust under the right conditions. You need to keep a lid that fits the skillet or whatever you are cooking in to put on the skillet in case it starts flaming. Baking soda can also be used to stop a small grease fire. We want you to know what to do before it happens in your kitchen. If a fire does break out try not to panic. Wait. Slide a metal cookie sheet into place over the flames, and leave it. Make adjustments as the children grow older or you change your home’s layout. First the oil will begin to smoke, and will then quickly catch fire. These four methods are effective on grease fires in pans on the stove top, but always be prepared to evacuate the kitchen just in case. you can't put a grease fire out with water. Place the food in the grease carefully to prevent hot grease splatter. You’re looking forward to fried mozzarella snacks or a crispy fried chicken dinner. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and catch fire. In the event of a grease fire: Turn off the heat immediately if it is safe to do so. “Any time you see grease on your kitchen counter, you should try to wipe it down in order to avoid a ‘jumping fire,’” she warns. Deep frying a turkey creates a much larger fire hazard that doesn’t respond to covering or smothering. Glenview and Wilmette. Sources: What you need, she added, is a dry chemical fire extinguisher specifically designed to deal with grease. Wait for the fire to extinguish itself. A grease fire can occur when cooking oil becomes too hot. Watch more Home Security & Safety videos: http://www.howcast.com/videos/218108-How-to-Put-Out-a-Grease-FireA grease fire can escalate quickly. It's easy to lose track of a pot of oil on the stove until it ignites. All it takes is a drop of grease to splatter out of a hot pan onto a gas flame, and you have a dangerous kitchen fire. to use the one temporarily from the kitchen (you DO have one in your kitchen right)? Turn off the heat source. Perhaps you’re sizzling breakfast bacon in the oven. Unlike protein fires, most grease or oil fires start when the liquid reaches its smoking point. Immediately turn off the stove top or oven, and be careful not to move the pan. The very best safety is prevention. I am assuming we mean a cooking grease fire so we shall start there. Unlike protein fires, most grease or oil fires start when the liquid reaches its smoking point. Practice evacuation with the family several times a year. The kitchen smells heavenly. It’s even harder when soot and smoke spread from the stove to other rooms in the house. Always be ready with a Class K extinguisher. Keep flammables away from the heat source. Diana enjoys sharing her knowledge and making a positive difference in the community. Take time to read proper techniques for putting out a grease fire before one breaks out. Grease fires, for example, can actually spread faster when doused with water. Then you turn off the heat. Movement can splash hot oil or grease and spread the flames. Our Skokie, IL office is located southeast of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and west of Northwestern University. Source(s): FireFighter. Here's how to put out a grease fire in a flash: NEVER TRY TO PUT OUT A GREASE FIRE WITH WATER. Grease fires happen when collections of oil or grease on a stove, oven or fryer get hot enough to ignite. If the grease fire does not go out after the above measures… Try a fire … but baking soda works. Baking soda or salt will extinguish a small grease fire by smothering it, but it will take a large amount. Put a lid on the pot or frying pan to cut off oxygen to the fire. Fires can be started in a number of ways, but they generally fall into one of two categories: fires caused by heat igniting combustible materials, and those caused by chemical reactions. Other common causes of house fires include space heaters, and frayed or inadequate wiring. As the fire grows higher and hotter, more flammable objects and furnishings will ignite from spreading flames, including wooden cabinets and countertops, wallpaper, hanging baskets, and curtains. Much like electrical fires, these emergencies require special precautions. Grease fires aren’t confined to the kitchen. Many house fires begin in the kitchen. It put out the grease fire in the pan in seconds. The extinguishing material forms a soap like … Being aware of the common causes of oven fires can help you avoid the situation. Careless smoking, especially around textiles, is also a significant cause of … The Kitchn If there are flammable items nearby like hand towels, pot holders or a discarded apron, it can add more fuel to the flames almost instantly. Drop either one directly on the fire. Be careful not to jolt the pan. Avoid moving the pot from the stove as the grease could splash on you or the kitchen surfaces. Never leave the kitchen unattended. Second, make sure you start with a clean grill. I never actually had a grease fire yet but I have set off the fire alarm at my apartment 3 times over the past year after burning chicken or pasta and having it start to smell like smoke. These include wooden utensils, oven mitts, dish towels and even the sleeves on your clothing. A sideways toss can cause flames to leap out of the pan and spread across the stove top. Grease fires on the stovetop are common, but many issues can also cause an oven fire. If a grease fire starts: Cover the flames with a metal lid or cookie sheet. In fire classes, a Class B fire is a fire in flammable liquids or flammable gases, petroleum greases, tars, oils, oil-based paints, solvents, lacquers, or alcohols. If the stove can start a paper towel on fire ( it can because I did it ), it can certainly set grease on fire. on November 05, 2019. And without Kat around to calmly swoop in and smother that fire, you might panic when the flames start. Although some home grease fires happen when oil hits its flash point, and then somehow comes into contact with the ignition source, this is not the only way for an oil to catch fire. Avoid splatters by gently lowering food into the pan. ServiceMaster by Zaba specializes in kitchen fire cleanup for homes in Chicago and Suburbs, and we handle commercial kitchen fire damage restoration too. Put out the fire by smothering the flames with baking soda or salt. Finally, develop a home fire safety plan. 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