Fire Prevention Week: Prevent kitchen fires

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- With October 6-12, 2013 being Fire Prevention Week, Montgomery County Firefighters and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) are promoting “It’s Fire Prevention Week: Prevent Kitchen Fires!”

This year’s campaign focuses on preventing home kitchen fires – most resulting from unattended cooking – and teaching the public how to prevent kitchen fires from starting in the first place.

“Often, our Firefighters respond to a kitchen fire where the residents tell us they ‘only left the kitchen for a few minutes’,” said Montgomery County Fire Marshal Jimmy Williams. “Sadly, that’s all it takes for a dangerous fire to start.”

According to the NFPA, cooking is the leading cause of fire in the home. Two of every five home fires began in the kitchen, more than any other place in the home. Cooking fires are also the leading cause of fire-related injuries. Non-fatal home cooking fires accounted for 57 percent of reported injuries where victims tried to fight the fire themselves.

The following precautions can keep your home safe from kitchen fires:

• Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, broiling, or boiling food.
• If you must leave the room, even for a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• When you are simmering, baking, or roasting food, check it regularly, stay in the home, and use a timer to remind you.
• If you have young children, use the stove’s back burners whenever possible. Keep children and pets at least three away from the stove.
• When you cook, wear clothing with tight-fitting sleeves.
• Keep potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper and plastic bags, towels, and anything else that can burn, away from your stovetop.
• Clean up food and grease from burners and stovetops.