5 Common Causes of Kitchen Fires

8/9/2022 (Permalink)

This unattended stove caused a fire in an apartment in Philadelphia, PA

We’ve all been there before. Half of your attention is on making food and the other half is worrying about a completely different task. Kitchen fires are one of the leading causes of home fires. According to the NFPA, between 2015-2019, cooking caused 49 percent of reported home fires, 20 percent of reported home fire deaths, and 42 percent of home fire injuries.

Here are five common causes of kitchen fires.

1. Leaving cooking unattended.
2. Frying with oil. Oil can be tricky because oil gets very hot, very quickly. Once you see signs of smoke emanating from the liquid and a strong smell, be prepared for a fire to ignite, though it may take several minutes before it begins to burn. 
3. Setting the cooking temperature too high. Philadelphians are known for their impatient behaviors, so it's common for people to put their cooking temps too high to speed up the process. But according to the home improvement experts, it’s extremely dangerous to do this.
4. Loose fitting clothing. For those who grew up during the 90s, you remember from the famous scene from the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire, where she leans over the stove and her blouse catches on fire. Did we just show our age?
5. Flammable compounds left near an open flame or other heating materials. SERVPRO of Society Hill was recently called in by the property manager of an apartment building. One of the units on the ninth floor went up in flames when a flammable object was left onto a hot stove.

Any one of these things can happen in the blink of an eye. Be aware of your surroundings and try to keep your full attention while in the kitchen.