Crime & Safety

Fire Officials Warn Of Serious Danger Inside Home Kitchens

Two out of every five of these types of potentially deadly incidents occur inside home kitchens.

On the average firefighters respond to a home fire somewhere in America every 85 seconds according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Of those blazes, two of every five begin in the kitchen, according to a released statement from Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department officials.

“We can reduce the risk of fires in the home by 40 percent just by paying attention to what goes on in the kitchen,” said Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department Chief John R. Hawkins.

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Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department has joined with the National Fire Protection Association to help reduce kitchen fires by spreading the word about the dangers during this year’s Fire Prevention Week that’s taking place October 6-12.

NFPA’s “Fire Loss in the United States” report shows that in 2012 home fires caused more deaths than other types of blazes: 83 percent of fire deaths occurred in homes.

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“We have made great progress over the years with residential fire sprinklers, interconnected smoke alarms, more stringent electrical and fire codes, but we need the public’s help in preventing home fires”, Hawkins said.

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department offers the following kitchen safety tips:

• 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 feet 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.


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