FDNY Provides Tips To Avoid Kitchen Fires During Chanukah

By Yehudit Garmaise

 The Fire Department New York (FDNY) reported that fifty percent of all apartment fires and 25% of all the fires in private homes get sparked in the kitchen, where many of us will be as we prepare oil-laden treats at our stoves starting tomorrow for Chanukah.

     Before even getting starting in the kitchen, cooks should take care to wear clothing with sleeves that are snug, and not loose, as loose clothing is much more likely to catch fire or catch on pot handles and flip them over.

  Then, to keep kids safe from sizzling bursts of oil, cooks should create a “kid-free zone” of at three feet around stoves, where kids should not enter or play.

   Just as candles should not be left to burn unattended, cooks must remember never to leave their kitchens while food is cooking on their stoves because one-third of fires start when cooks leave their stovetops unattended.

   So that they can remain at their posts, cooks must ensure they have others on hand to help them to attend to children, doorbells, and anything else that would take cooks away from their stovetops.

    While cooks should keep their phones and whatever they need to stay by their stovetops, the FDNY also reminds cooks to ensure to remove from the stovetop area any paper towels, napkins, dish towels, papers, and cookbooks that could catch fire.

      Sizzling oil that jumps from pans also can create many hazards, such as burning and spilling, so cooks are advised to always turn the handles of their pots and pans inward toward the wall behind the stovetops. 

    If fires do break out, G-d forbid, throwing water on grease fires will not help, the FDNY said. Instead, cooks should keep the lids of pots and pans ready to cover contents that have caught fire. Additionally, a container of baking soda should be readily accessible to sprinkle onto small grease fires, if necessary. 

    To avoid burns, cooks should take extra care when they are handling hot water, oil, or other liquids, which can easily splatter and splash.

   If anyone is burned, adults should immediately run the burned areas under cool water, apply aloe or Silvadene, an extremely effective prescription topical antibiotic made of silver sulfadiazine that is used in urgent care, to treat burns and prevent infections.

   Emergency medical care may be needed, depending in the severity of the burns.

Photo by: Ari Kay