Fires!

5/11/2017 (Permalink)

SERVPRO Offers Tips for Preventing Fire Damage to Your St Clair County Kitchen

The kitchen is the number one "hot spot" for fires leading to fire damage in your home. Cooking with grease and oil can be hazardous to your health for reasons other than nutrition and diet. One of the most dangerous incidents that can happen in your home is a grease fire. There are several preventative measures that you can implement to decrease the likelihood of a grease fire in your kitchen. Access the information below, provided by SERVPRO, to minimize an accidental kitchen fire.

Keep It Clean. Because most of us have numerous domestic and professional responsibilities, there is often little time to clean everything as thoroughly as we'd like to. Nevertheless, it's important to know that cleaning up all drips and spills from the stove area each day is one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent fire damage in your kitchen from a grease fire. Large spills are easy to spot and can be cleaned up quickly. As you cook, remember to wipe away substances that spill over the side of the pan. Also, keep the area around a burner or flame free of spills and grease all the time.

Be Safe With Cooking Oils And Fats. When you cook with oil, be sure that you know what your temperature rating is. Not all oils and fats are alike. Refined fats can be safely heated to higher temperatures because there are few impurities. However, allowing your cooking oil to become too hot can cause it to ignite. If you note that oil is starting to smoke, be sure to take it away from the source of heat immediately. If a fire ignites within the frying pan, never throw water on top of it.

Know Your Fire Extinguisher. Type ABC or B extinguishers contain proper chemicals and propellants to put out grease fires. Your kitchen extinguisher should be a C02 or a dry chemical extinguisher. Each year check for the expiration date of use for the fire extinguisher. Keep one close at hand, perhaps under the kitchen sink base cabinet. However, you should never utilize a water-based extinguisher for this type of fire. Water will not blanket the flames causing oxygen deprivation and will splash and spread the flames to other areas. Minimize smoke and fire damage by quickly extinguishing the flame.

Call SERVPRO for Fast, Friendly Fire Damage Restoration Services

Awareness of the above tips will make your kitchen and household a safer place. However, happenstance can still allow a fire to occur in your Tuscaloosa home. If this should happen, make the call to a company you can trust – SERVPRO. Our IICRC-certified technicians are skilled in restoring your property quickly and safely. Moreover, we offer the friendly, detailed customer service necessary to keep you calm and confident throughout the fire damage restoration process. Our aim is to return your home to its preloss condition ASAP.