Can’t Stand the Heat? Keep the Fire out of the Kitchen About a third of all home fires start in the kitchen. That’s equal to tens of thousands of people’s homes going up in flames. And the worst thing is that many of them could have been prevented. And although cooking was the leading cause, there were a couple other sources that could have easily been prevented if consumers had just been more aware of them. Here are a few things you can to prevent fire damage to your Cincinnati home. First, watch your cooking.
Quick Tips As stated earlier, cooking is often the cause of most fires. Burners and ovens poorly cared are a huge fire hazard to everyone in the house. You should take care of your appliances. Keep them in top performance shape and heed their usability warnings. Also, do not leave them running unattended. How many times has a home caught fire because a burner was left unattended? Spoons placed too closely to the edge and overflows can spread a fire in just a few minutes.
Don’t Panic Another big cooking error is actually panicking when you encounter a grease fire. They are probably the most frightening of all fires. You are taught all your life that water is fire’s enemy. Throwing water on a grease fire should therefore put it out. What a surprise you find when not only does it not put it out, but it also spreads the fire further and faster. It’s at this moment that true panic begins. It’s like a soldier learning he can hit a man in the leg to slow him down, only to meet Superman on the battle field and find that it only sped him up out of anger. Anyone would panic in that situation. Panicking is the worst thing to do though. Instead, a homeowner should try to utilize a grease fire’s kryptonite, an environment without oxygen.
Find a cover of some sort and place it over the flames, cutting off their connection to life sustaining oxygen. This will decrease your chance of hurting your home with fire damage in Cincinnati.
Danger of Appliances Other risks include using appliances in your kitchen. We often take our appliances for granted, thinking they are perfectly safe. Although they are designed to be harmless, they can prove to be dangerous under the right circumstances. There are a few things you should do. Always plug your appliance directly into an outlet. Do not use an extension cord for these. Unlike Christmas lights, a DVD player and a reading lamp, kitchen appliances cannot be all safely crammed into one extension cord. You are much more likely to overload the circuit, causing fire damagein Cincinnati. Read the owner’s manual. Follow the instructions on proper operating and care. The more you misuse your appliance, the greater risk it will be to you and your home. Don’t be the reason fire damage in Cincinnati happened. It takes a great man to humble himself to read the directions. Women aren’t quite as prideful in this area. Prevent fire damage in Cincinnati, fight fires by never letting them happen. Be attentive and responsible in your kitchen.
Photo Credit: Eye of Einstein, Jason Hargrove