FDNY Foundation

The preparation of the home cooked meal is the leading cause of home fires and fire injuries. In order to drastically reduce your risk of a cooking fire, follow this recipe for safety while cooking :

• Stay in the kitchen. Don’t leave cooking food unattended.
• Wear short or tight fitting sleeves. Long loose sleeves are more likely to catch on fire or get caught on pot handles.
• Don’t become distracted.
• Enforce a “kid-free zone” of 3 feet around your stove.
• Turn pot handles inward facing the wall to prevent burns caused by overturning or spills.
• Keep the area around the stove clear of towels, papers or anything that could burn.
• Cook at indicated temperatures settings rather than higher settings.
• Regularly clean your cooking equipment so that there are no cooking materials, food items or grease accumulation.
• Have a pot lid handy to smother a pan fire. Do not attempt to pick up the pot or pan.
• Shut off the heat and cover the fire with the lid.
• Do not use water. It will cause splashing and spread.
• Use baking soda to extinguish the flame.
• Treat burns immediately with cool running water. <more>