How a Small Oven Fire Can Quickly Burn Your House Down

How a Small Oven Fire Can Quickly Burn Your House Down

It was a late Sunday afternoon, and 88-year-old William was contemplating what to make for dinner. Life was different now that his wife of 65 years had passed.

For William and his wife, Mary, dinner was always a great time to reconnect and talk. Now, dinners were of no interest, and William mostly ate alone.

William placed the pot roast in the oven and became distracted by a box of old photographs his son had dropped off earlier that day.

HOME FIRE STATISTICS:

Home fires cause $6.9 Billion in property damages.

An average of 2,620 deaths are due to house fires.

More than 350,000 home fires occur each year in the US.

Kitchen fires account for 67%of home fires.

Over half of kitchn fires occur on the stove top, your oven can also pose serious fire risk.

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William placed the pot roast in the oven and became distracted by a box of old photographs his son had dropped off earlier that day.

As he looked through the photos, enjoying the memories, William’s eyes became heavy and he fell sound asleep.

William awoke to a heavy smell of smoke and discovered there was a fire in his oven!Panicked at the sight of the fire, William turned the oven off, but sadly, he opened the oven door.

The smoke was so thick that he could not see and the fire quickly spread to the kitchen cabinets.

William was very fortunate to make it out of his house alive.

Ovens Catch Fire for Several Reasons

Fat and grease can splatter and cause a flame.

Forgot something in your oven? We’ve all been there. Burned foods can cause a lot of smoke and even a fire.

Baking a cake? If the batter overflows the baking pan, it can drip to the bottom and cause a small fire.

Ovens in need of cleaning, or food scraps that have fallen to the bottom of the oven, can catch fire.

How Can You Prevent an Oven Fire?

Start by making sure your oven is clean. Ideally, you should be cleaning your oven

at least once per month.

Recent statistics show that unattended cooking accounts for 67% of all home fires.

Timers are your friend. Use Them!

Baking? use a baking tray under your bake pan to catch any overflow.

Cover foods that may splatter grease.

Now let’s say you follow all of the preventative steps and still have an oven fire:

• Leave the oven door closed! The fire needs oxygen to grow and opening the door will cause it to quickly expand.
• Turn off the oven. Let the fire burn out on its own.
• Once the fire goes out, go open your windows.
• You can then open the oven door - but be prepared for a lot of smoke!
• If the fire does not go out on its own, please immediately leave and call 911.

DO NOT GO BACK INSIDE! It cannot be emphasized enough, do not go back inside a burning home or building.

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