Do you know how to put out a grease fire in North Georgia?

Grease fires are one of the most common causes of both kitchen fires and house fires in North Georgia and can send even the most skilled chef into shock. Since seconds count in a grease fire, you should give the matter some forethought before you end up with a fire and not know what to do. Your ability to react quickly and properly is essential to putting out the flames before they can get out of hand and turn into a big fire.

Most grease fires are caused by overheated oil and are easier to put out that mitigating the fire damage later. Avoiding grease fires is not that complicated, so watch the oil for signs of smoking and then taking it off the heat immediately to prevent ignition. Keeping stoves properly cleaned from oily and greasy spills on burners, in microwaves, and standard/convection ovens, will also help prevent grease fires.

Many homes contain fire extinguishers and either don’t keep them up to date or don’t know how to use them. If you fit into either of these categories, you can use some common kitchen ingredients to put out a small grease fire.

The way to put out a fire is to remove the oxygen. You should first turn off the power to the appliance, stove or oven. If you can’t cover the fire with a fire proof lid, pot or pan, then there are a couple of common kitchen ingredients that can smother the fire.

Salt…just plain old everyday table salt can absorb a lot of heat for its volume and a moderate amount (about 1 cup) can extinguish a decent size grease fire. 

Baking soda smothers flames by releasing carbon dioxide. It takes a lot more than salt, so keeping the giant box in the laundry soap isle could be a good idea instead of the small sized box.

NEVER use these items to put out a grease fire…you will create a dangerous situation and a bigger fire.

Water: Pouring water on a fire can make the fire spread because water and oil don’t mix and you could actually spread drops of burning oil to another location on the water.

Flour: Flour can ignite and make the fire much larger.

Baking Powder: Baling powder is not the same thing as baking soda and will also ignite.

Sugar: Sugar is very flammable and contains oxygen atoms, so you are fueling the fire, and turns to a liquid when extreme heat is introduced and spattering will cause severe burns.

The best bet for fighting a kitchen fire is still a fire extinguisher. Buying a water-based fire extinguisher will cause the same issues as using water, so the best type of extinguishers for grease fires is called a Class B dry chemical fire extinguisher. There is another class of extinguishers known as B-C "kitchen fire extinguishers" that can also suffice, including affordable aerosol cans and new, stove-top varieties that you can mount near your stove.

If you end up with a deep-fried kitchen, fire damage of any type or water damage as a result of the fire, call Restoration 1 of North Georgia to being the assessment and restoration process.