Kitchen fires are the leading cause of residential fires for a reason. When I left the job, 37 percent of all fires were caused by unattended cooking. This was a large statistic in 2010 and I am sure that this number may be even higher now, since the number of fires has increased. The biggest reason for the fire problem in a kitchen is that all that is necessary to have a fire is regularly found in the kitchen. What do I mean by that? To have a fire, you need heat, fuel, oxygen, and the chemical chain reaction that brings everything together. There is 21 percent oxygen in room air. A fire requires at least 16 percent oxygen to burn. The heat source is normally the stove and oven. The fuel source is what is being cooked or heated, as well as things sitting around the heat source, like paper towels. What is normally lacking in a kitchen fire is the human attention to detail. Again, what am I saying? Most kitchen fires occur when attended cooking (someone is with it) moves to unattended cooking (no one is with it).
Many factors contribute to every fire that occurs. The biggest factor that is the hardest to change is the human factor. Smoke alarms and residential sprinkler systems are life saving devices, created to give early warning and hold fires in check, respectively. Note: these two life saving devices do not do anything to prevent a fire from occurring. These devices react to a fire once it is going. A fire is prevented by the correct actions taken by a human being. So, what are the behaviors or actions that must be overcome? The first and most dangerous human factor is the person who says: “It will never happen to me.” A person’s mind has to change in order to prevent fires from occurring. To say that it cannot happen to you is like denying a heart attack when your chest feels like an elephant is sitting on it. Another incorrect mindset is “That’s why we have smoke alarms and a sprinkler system.” The message in this mindset is, “I am ready, once the fire occurs.” Our mindset must be, “A fire can occur and I must do everything possible to prevent it.”
The next aspect of the human factor are the actions that people take that lead to a fire. Remember, the human factor is all about human behaviors. Here is a partial list of human actions that lead to a kitchen fire:
• Starting to cook something and taking a call on your cell phone
• Heating up cooking oil, but deciding to lay down because you are tired and falling asleep
• Having to leave the kitchen after starting the meal to ____(you fill in the blank)
• Using dish towels as pot holders or oven mitts
• Not having a clean kitchen
• Putting something on to cook and forgetting, even to the point of leaving the home
• Forgetting to turn the burner off when th power goes off.
Dealing with each human factor may prevent a fire from occurring in your home. Preventing a fire is a positive human behavior. You must believe: “It can happen to me, unless I do everything possible to prevent it.”
I want to leave you with this mental picture. Some departments across America use a house fire as an educational tool after a fire occurs. In other words, you have a kitchen fire that causes your family to be displaced. In cooperation with fire officials, insurance companies, and homeowners, your house is made safe enough to enter in its burnt state. Your neighbors are invited to come and tour your gutted home, showing them the effects of a kitchen fire. Everything is safe from theft because it has been destroyed in the fire. Everyone in your neighborhood has gotten a tremendous education on “what happens when.” My question is this: Is it worth the costs? A fire in your home is a traumatizing event, not only to those who live in the house, but to those who live close by. I told you the story of the little boy that watched a house burn in his neighborhood. He had nightmares and could not sleep every night after that fire until his mom called the fire station and asked if we could help. We came to their house and let him do a fire safety inspection of his home with us. We tested all of their smoke alarms. We helped them create a home escape plan that we had them practice. We even taught him what to say if he ever had to call 9-1-1. I called the mom the next morning to ask if things had improved. She said, “He slept like a baby.” I wrote this article because the last fire listed in the Daily Business Plan for Chesterfield Fire & EMS was a kitchen fire. Kitchen fires happen numerous times every day across this nation.
