PSA: Kitchen Fire Safety

Guardian Safety Solutions International, Inc. (GSSI), the nation’s largest provider of range top fire suppression systems, offers 10 tips for kitchen safety. According to the National Fire Protection Association, cooking was involved in a reported 156,400 home fires in 2010 (latest statistics). These fires caused 410 deaths, 5,310 injuries and almost $100 million in direct property damage. While those were the reported fires, it is estimated that more than 12 million unintentional home cooking fires go unreported and cause 640,000 injuries annually.  As many as 45 house fires are reported every hour in the U.S., and 60 percent of apartment fires are started by cooking equipment. Ranges accounted for the largest share (58%) of home cooking fire incidents. 

The 10 tips for kitchen fire safety are:

1. Never leave a room while cooking.
2. If you must leave the room while cooking, turn off the stove.
3. Keep pot handles turned to the back of the stove so children cannot grab them.
4. Wear short sleeves or tight sleeves while cooking so nothing dangles near a flame.
5. Keep paper, towels, pot holders, wooden utensils and curtains away from the cooking area.
6. Have one or more fire extinguishers handy and know how to use them.
7. Keep stove tops clean; remove built up grease and spilled food.
8. Never throw water on a grease fire – smother it with a pan lid instead.
9. Keep children and pets out of the “kid-free” zone three feet from the stove.
10. Have a fire escape plan, and review and rehearse it often.

The Guardian is designed to detect and extinguish cooking fires and at the same time

prevents re-ignition. Once it detects heat at a pre-determined temperature, a signal is sent to release the extinguishing agent to suppress the fire and to shut off the gas or electric supply to the stove in order to prevent reigniting. With the system, a fire can be extinguished in as little as seven seconds (video).