Fire Prevention Week – Day Four: Put a Lid On It!

"Look While You Cook, And Stand By Your Pan"

“Cooking is the number one cause of fires in the home.”

As part of Fire Prevention Week, Barrie Fire’s Samantha Hoffmann is telling you to put a lid on it.

“It’s really easy to have a cooking fire because it’s easy to get distracted.” says Hoffmann, “What happens is, we’ll put something on the stove, we forget about it. Maybe the kids have a fight, someone comes to the door, the phone rings. What happens all the time is, then when you come back, you go to finish what you were cooking, and next thing you know you have a kitchen fire.”

Should a distraction arise and you’ve got a fire in your pan, Hoffmann says to put a lid on it. “If you don’t have a lid nearby, a nice cookie sheet, slide it right on top.” Don’t take the lid off afterward either, as Hoffmann says it could flare up again. The next step is to call 911, regardless of whether you think you’ve tackled it yourself. Hoffmann warns that sparks from the initial fire could find their way into the stove’s hood and lead to a second fire.

Related: Fire Prevention Week – Day Three: Make Sure the Wee Ones Get The Message

“If you have to leave the kitchen, turn the stove off,” suggests Hoffmann. “If you can’t leave the stove off, slide an oven mitt on, or set a timer. Something that’s going to visually cue you to get back into the kitchen because you’re cooking. We want you to look while you cook, and stand by your pan.”

Fire Prevention Week runs until Saturday, October 12th. Barrie 360, with the help of the Barrie Fire and Emergency Service, will explore more elements of fire safety all this week.

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