How To Control A Kitchen Grease Fire

Grease fires are by far one of the worst kinds a person can fight to put out, especially if they don’t know the best way to approach the situation. The one thing you never want to do is douse the fire with water. Since this is normally the ideal solution, it is also most people’s first response.

Get Your Grease Fire Under Control

Grease fires are the exception to the rule; you will only make matters worse and could wind up causing considerably more damage to your property and harm to yourself and others.

As such, you should always remember to take extra precautions when cooking with animal fats and vegetable oil. Grease is infamous for it splatter pattern; throwing a flaming pan in the kitchen sink is thus one of the worst things you can do. Thankfully, getting a dangerous grease fire under control is not as tough as it may seem; all it takes is a few special steps to get right. The first, and most, obvious thing you want to do is remove the heat source; turn off your burners as soon as you can, then suffocate the fire by cutting off its oxygen supply.

This can be accomplished in multiple ways, just make sure to do it as safely and quickly as possible. You can put the fire out with either another pan, pot, a speciality designed kitchen fire retardant blanket, or for maximum results, baking soda. The latter works to smother neutralize the flame; you will likely need to pour the entire container on top of the fire to put it out completely, but this is absolutely necessary to prevent it from spreading throughout the kitchen.

Salt is yet another everyday, home material that is excellent at heat absorption; used together, this combo is guaranteed to eliminate your grease fire fast. Fires (especially those fueled by grease) move far faster than most people realize; you can worry about cleaning up the mess later. At this point, it is vital to isolate the flames before they become uncontrollable. Of course, you can never go wrong with a proper fire extinguisher for kitchen fires to get the job done right.

Fire prevention and control is a necessary part of home ownership and family safety. Proper extinguishing methods and will not only protect your belongings but more importantly the people living in your house.

Better yet, contact your local fire department. There is never any time to waste in these situations, especially when your family’s safety and livelihood are on the line.