You might like your food hot – but not your kitchen. More than half of all house fires start in the kitchen. For example, each year in NSW alone, the Fire Brigade attends about 2,500 kitchen fires.
Here's some simple tips for safer kitchen cooking.
- Never leave cooking unattended. About one in four kitchen fires are caused by what is called ‘unattended heat sources’ – that’s food left cooking on stoves without the cook nearby.
- What are the two things every cook needs? A fire extinguisher and fire blanket.
Make sure you have them in the kitchen – and know how to use them. Keep them within easy reach but at least one metre from the stove and any other likely source of fire. - Hot oils and fats catch fire easily and should only be put out by a fire blanket, dry powder extinguisher or saucepan lid. Never pour water on a grease fire.
- Keep your stove and oven clean – food and grease splatters can catch fire.
- If you have a fire in you microwave, turn it off and leave the door closed.
- Fire isn’t the only kitchen cooking danger. Burns and scalds are another common cause of kitchen injuries.
- Always use oven mitts to pick up any hot pot or bowl that has been in the oven or microwave. Remove lids and plastic wrap from boiling pots, cooked and re-heated foods or microwaved packets from the side furthest from you and away from your face to avoid steam burns.
- Don’t use recycled paper in the microwave – it can spark.
- Don’t leave saucepans on cooktops with the handles sticking out where you can knock them or children can pull them down. Use the rear burners where possible.
- Dress for the occasion – wear shoes and safe clothing, non-flammable material. Synthetic material can melt onto your skin if it catches fire. Don’t wear long, flowing sleeves.
- Clean up spills straight away – water, food and grease will make your floor slippery.
Bon appetite!
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