Helpful Hints from joeeze: Kitchen fire management

Flautist sent me the following, writing, "Got this from a friend today — probably a lot of people don’t know this — I sure didn’t. Great message."

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Dear Friends,

I was Executive Director of the Institute for Burn Medicine for San Diego and Imperial Counties when we lived in California.

Besides raising the money to establish a Burn Treatment Center at the University Hospital there, I conducted extensive public education campaigns in Burn Prevention.

A friend recently sent me the attached short video — and like an old fire horse, I heard the bell ring and am rushing to send this excellent prevention piece to each of you.

It is stunning, well worth viewing — and it could save your life.

Please read what follows here first, then watch the short 30-second clip about how to deal with a  common kitchen fire — oil in a frying pan.

I had never realized before watching that a wet dishcloth can be a one-size-fits-all lid to cover a fire in a pan.

At Fire Fighting Training school they would demonstrate this with a deep fat fryer set on the fire field.

An instructor would don a fire suit and use an 8-oz. cup at the end of a 10-foot pole to toss water onto the grease fire.

The results got the attention of the students.

The water, being heavier than oil, sank to the bottom where it instantly became superheated.

The explosive force of the steam then blew the burning oil up and out.

On the open fire field, it became a 30-foot-high fireball that resembled a nuclear  blast.

Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fireball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room.

Also worth knowing: Do not throw sugar or flour on a grease fire — one cup of either creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite.