Kitchen Fire: Ignition

11/8/2021 (Permalink)

Since cooking fires account for almost half (44 percent) of all home fires, stovetop cooking can be one of the most dangerous. A few seconds is all it takes for a pot or pan to boil over a rim, spilling flammable oil-laden contents directly onto the flames. The flashpoint of many common cooking oils is around 600 degrees F, but when gas or electric burners are placed on high, temperatures can approach 1000 degrees F.

Within seconds of a flame-up, fire easily spreads. Spattered grease or oil residue on a dirty stovetop will ignite, causing flames to travel across the range. Oil residue on cooking utensils also ignite, and other combustibles like paper towels, paper or cardboard packaging, and dry dish towels nearby will begin to smolder and burn. Smoke - a deadly cocktail of hot gases, including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water vapor, hydrogen sulfate and unburned hydrocarbons (ash or soot)- rises up off the flames with the heated air.