GRAND RAPIDS,Mich. — The week of October 6-12 is fire prevention week, and this years theme is “Prevent Kitchen Fires”. According to the latest National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) research, cooking is the leading cause of home fires. Two of every five home fires begin in the kitchen more than any other place in the home. Cooking fires are also the leading cause of home fire-related injuries.
Some safety tips for the kitchen include:
- 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.
Fire prevention week was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, the tragic 1871 conflagration that took more than 250 lives, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on October 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on October 9, 1871.
