Top Causes of Kitchen Fires

The kitchen is actually one of the most common locations of house fires! While the kitchen does have a reliable source of water, it’s also where a lot of heat is used…and that means all kitchen users should be careful to avoid damage and injury from fires. Here are the primary causes of kitchen fires – avoid them all!

Frying Foods

Frying foods uses lots of oil – and heating oil can be very dangerous! Even small splashes of oil can land on nearby wood or counters and start small fires. When deep frying, tiny mistakes or unnoticed pockets of water can create very dangerous explosions of oil and flames, which may lead to serious kitchen damage…and a trip to the hospital. If you are frying foods in the kitchen, make sure you have experience, take every precaution, and keep children and pets away while you work.

Heat Sources Left On

Another very common cause of kitchen fires are burners that are left on. The burner itself is unlikely to cause fires (although it may damage itself over time), but if any food, wooden utensils, towels or other items are left nearby, they can catch on fire and flames can spread. One way to prevent this is to take a last tour of the kitchen before you eat to make sure everything is properly turned off. This is typically more of a danger with gas burners, but electric burnerscan present problems as well.

Built Up Fat Deposits

Over time, oils and fat particles can rise along with smoke and steam and create depositsin kitchen fans, the undersides of cabinets, and similar areas. These placesare fire traps waiting to happen, and sparks or heat can cause these depositsto smolder, eventually creating dangerous fires that can lead to widespreaddamage. The solution, of course, is periodically cleaning your kitchen fan,ducts, and other areas where these fats might build up.

Unattended Foods

Finally, be careful of unattended foods, too! Forgotten pizzas in the oven or rice left on the burner can create a lot of smoke, which may potentially damage nearby materials (not to mention leaving a very unpleasant odor and setting off fire alarms). Even these contained fires can be an expensive mess – and with today’s smartphones, you can always set mobile timers to remind you of cooking foods.

Smoke and fire damage are best dealt with ASAP to prevent further problems. If you are experiencing problems with fire or smoke damage, take action! Contact Elements Disaster Recovery today to get help from the experts!