Kitchen fire

[pdplot]

Little excitement tonight. Wife was going to cook fried green tomatoes I brought home from a garden plot, given to me by the gal farming the plot. She had a lid on an iron skillet and when she took the lid off, fire flared up. She panicked. I looked for the fire extinguisher but couldn't find it. I thought it was red - it was white and I missed it. I tried to get the skillet into the sink but it slipped out of my hands and dropped on the floor. Flames shot all over. Hot fat. I managed to pour a little water in the pan which put out the fire while she called 911. Fire dept. came and measured for leftover heat above the stove. Turns out one of the firemen lived in Wilton and had a plot right next to the women who gave me the tomatoes. And even stranger, her father in law was our neighbor across the street in our first house. Lots of soot to clean up and a round burn mark on our wood kitchen floor but nobody got burned and we have metal kitchen cabinets near the stove. Anyone with wood cabinets near the stove is asking for big trouble. The green tomatoes were ok. The swordfish was better.

 

[JPSmit]

glad you're OK that could have gone south in a hurry!

 

[Basil]

Yikes! Scary - glad you're all ok.

 

[Gliderman8]

Glad it turned out safe for you and your wife. Use the experience to know where your fire extinguisher is and maybe get a RED one so you’ll be ready if needed.

 

[Popeye]

Yow! Sounds like all are safe - and enjoyed the swordfish. Hope no burns on the hands from handling the hot pans either?

A public safety announcement - grease fires should not be treated with water. Fire extinguisher or flour works. Or putting a lid on the fire, if one is handy.

 

[Trevor Triumph]

Whoa! Agreed that cold haver been really bad.

 

[pdplot]

I did everything wrong. We had a lid, in fact my wife took it off and the fire flared up, but I would have been burned trying to get it back on. I tried to get that heavy skillet into the sink but it needed two hands and I dropped it on the floor, burning a circle in the floor that I foolishly tried to sand away today with a reciprocating sander instead of calling the insurance company. After 4 sheets of 330-346 grit sandpaper, the circle is still visible and the finish (not poly) is all off the floor. I know you're not supposed to put water on a grease fire but the pan was on the floor and blazing away. As soon as the water hit the pan, the fire went out. The (white) extinguisher is now on the floor of the broom closet where I won't need a step stool to get at it. Another lesson learned. I would advise everyone to do a fire drill at least once so you don't do what I did.

 

[John Turney]

We had our kitchen fire drill a couple of years ago when our poodle puppy tried to climb onto the stove to get his sister's dinner in a plastic bowl on the stove. He lit the burner under her bowl.

I'm outside. Wife calls on the phone to bring the extinguisher. It's red and by the back door. I run in with it and pull the pin.

Wife says: "Wait, I've go to take a picture."

I reply: "How millennial of you."

She takes the photo with her phone, a quick burst puts the fire out.

I spend the next three hours cleaning up the extinguisher powder. She posts the photo on the internet.

We take the knobs off the stove.

Glad it wasn't worse for you!

 

[Popeye]

Wait, there’s a picture but you won’t show it?? :chuncky:

 

[titanfan10]

Glad you are both ok, nothing like trying to think fast when something like that is staring you in the face.

 

[John Turney]

Wait, there’s a picture but you won’t show it?? :chuncky:

I didn't take it, she did. Copied from faceplant:

 

[Popeye]