How to Avoid Cooking Fires

Do you know kitchen fire safety?

Here are some tips from Ted Pisciotta, Shelton's Assistant Chief in charge of Fire Prevention.

"In an effort to better educate everyone about fire safety, the Shelton Fire Department encourages everyone to have safe kitchen habits with stoves, microwaves and other appliances," Pisciotta said.  “Remaining attentive while cooking and managing how close children and pets are to anything hot will help keep families safe."

Use these important kitchen safety tips:

·         Be alert! If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol don’t use the stove or stovetop.

·         Keep an eye on what you fry! Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.

·         If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.

·         Keep anything that can catch fire – oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels, or curtains – away from your stovetop.

·         Have a “kid-free zone” of at least 3 feet around the stove and areas where hot food or drink is prepared or carried.

·         Turn pot handles away from the stove’s edge.

·         Keep a lid and oven mitt nearby when you’re cooking to use in case of a grease fire. If you have a grease fire, slide a lid over the pan. Turn off the burner and leave the pan covered until it is completely cool. 

In conjunction with making every effort to prevent a fire from ever happening, be prepared by maintaining working smoke alarms throughout the entire home, he said. Follow these tips for making sure smoke alarms are maintained and working properly:

·         Test smoke alarms at least once a month using the test button, and make sure everyone in your home knows their sound.

·         If an alarm “chirps,” warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.

·         Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they’re 10 years old (or sooner) if they do not respond properly when tested.

·         Never remove or disable a smoke alarm.