Stove fire. Yeah. It sucked.

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Stove fire. Yeah. It sucked.


Image by ‘Scratch’
So – a few lessons for everyone – not just me.

If you have a bag of chips you want to keep out of the hands of a two year old, be smart, and don’t put it on the stove.

Make sure you turn on the RIGHT ring, and don’t leave the kitchen if it’s turned on – even for 60 seconds. That’s all this took.

Make sure your smoke detectors work. Ours does, but it wasn’t sensitive enough. If it doesn’t go off when something smokes on the ring, it isn’t. Ours will be replaced tomorrow with a new unit that is more sensitive. (And don’t cheap out.)

Have more than 1 detector. We have two. The one at our basement entrance was also going off at the same time as the upstairs. It’s new, upstairs isn’t.

If you have a fire extinguisher, don’t put it under your sink. Put it somewhere visible. I installed ours, and knew where it was. I ran to my TRUCK to get one, because I KNEW where to get it. (I screamed at Lin to do so, but the truck was locked, and I had to get my keys… this could have cost us our home.) As it was, I had a bottle of monoammonium phosphate (ABC powder) that knocked the flames out in time. Burners will reignite anything… Get it off if you want it to go out… DON’T RISK YOUR SAFETY TO DO SO.

If you feel compelled to swat at the flames to get them out, don’t. Debris will scatter. My toe is proof, as is my Lino.

A damp cloth kept the flames at bay until I returned with the extinguisher, I was prepared at that point to call 911. It was still under control when I returned with the extinguisher. No reignition, no flames, fire out.

Once the fire is under control, EVERY window, door, and opening open. FANS blow with the natural breeze, not against it to get the smoke out. The longer the smoke is in the house, the more risk of smoke damage.

IF THE FIRE WAS NEAR A STOVE FAN: IT IS NOT OVER YET.

You MUST check for extension of the fire into the hood fan vent. IF you see no smoke coming from the outside vent, once all stovetop sources of possible combustion are OUT, TURN ON THE FAN for at least 30 minutes. WATCH THE VENT EXIT FOR ANY SIGN OF SMOKE. If it reignites in the vent, you can call 911. If you don’t, and it smoulders until late night and reignites while you are sleeping – it could be very very bad.

So… Stove is almost clean. Need some replacement knobs and burners. Vent hood will be replaced for one with a fireproof lining, not holes that vent into the cabinets above.

Lino has some burns and will need to be replaced. I guess the insurance company will be getting a a call tomorrow. Or tonight. Hrm. I wonder.

pipe burst, ceiling wet


Image by mitten
At least we were at home to get to the shutoff valves.