Causes of Stove Fires When cooking, wearing clothes such as scarves, and bathrobes or tops with long, loose-fitting sleeves that can easily catch fire. Keeping flammable items (oven mitts, curtains, dish towels, wooden utensils, etc.) near the stovetop. Cooking while under the influence of alcohol.
Nearly two-thirds of all cooking fires started with fat, oil or grease that caught on fire. If not tended to immediately — and properly — these fires can quickly get out of hand. The second primary cause of cooking fires is combustible materials that are too close to the stove.
Grease, oils, and fats are the most common cause of stovetop fires. The hotter they get, the more dangerous they become.
Every year, fire departments respond to more than 170,000 home fires caused by cooking.
Home cooking fires typically occur because people leave cooking food unattended. Often the fire starts within the first 15 minutes of cooking, showing that there is no safe period of time to leave cooking food unattended.
Causes of Stove Fires
Keeping flammable items (oven mitts, curtains, dish towels, wooden utensils, etc.) near the stovetop. Cooking while under the influence of alcohol. Children playing near the stove during cooking.
Unattended cooking is the leading cause of most kitchen fires. Walking away while cooking, even for a moment, can easily become a hazardous situation. It is never a good idea to multi-task or walk around your house when cooking with an open flame or when the stove is set to a high temperature.
Wood-burning stoves produce much less smoke than open fires. If you are thinking of buying a stove then consider purchasing an Ecodesign stove. These have emission and efficiency set standards and any new stove placed on the market in the UK must now be Ecodesign compliant.
Keep the air vents open to provide a good supply of oxygen to the fire. Add larger pieces of wood as needed, ensuring that they're dry and seasoned correctly. Use a poker or tongs to move the wood around if necessary, and remove any ash buildup from the firebox.
Ignition System—This system creates a spark or flame to light the gas exiting the burners. It can be a pilot light, electronic ignition, or push-button igniter. Gas Valve - Controls the gas flow to the burners, opened by the control knobs.
Consider closing the damper to reduce the amount of air going into the stove. Doing so will help the furnace burn slower. Expect the fire to start a few minutes after. Using coal and well-seasoned wood can help the fire quickly spread over an extended period.
Night fires come without warning and can become large even before you are aware of them. Most night-time house fires happen because of electricity.
By a long shot, not everyone reports that they have had a chimney fire, yet there are more than 25,000 chimney fires reported in the U.S. annually. It's good to know the common causes of chimney fires and how to avoid them.
Two-thirds (66 percent) of kitchen fires occurred after cooking oil, fat, grease, butter, and other cooking substances were ignited. Oil can make the fire spread faster and can still cause a fire the next time someone cooks if there's any residue left on the stovetops.
Grease is one of the most dangerous fire hazards in kitchens because of how quickly it can build up from a day's use and how flammable it is if a fire were to break out.
Frying. The NFPA didn't release any official statistics related to frying, but the organization did point out that frying foods “dominates the cooking fire problem.” Any time you decide to fry food, you need to be very careful because hot oil can cause big problems for those working in the kitchen.
Oven fires can spark for several reasons, from common user errors to appliance malfunctions. Grease and oil can quickly cause a flame when they come in contact with an oven surface. But even something like cake or cookie batter can become ablaze if it spills onto the oven.
Instead, you can reach for two pantry staples to help douse a small grease fire safely: Baking soda is effective because it releases carbon dioxide when heated, which can smother the fire. Salt forms a barrier between the fire and the air. This prevents the fire from getting the oxygen it needs.