The night my station stove caught fire changed how I prep

I was at Station 7 last Tuesday making a big batch of chili for the night shift when I walked away for just a minute to grab onions. Came back to an oil flare up on the flattop that nearly hit the hood filters, and my first instinct was to grab the extinguisher. Instead my captain yelled at me to hit it with baking soda from the pantry, and it killed the fire in seconds without ruining the whole cooktop. Now I keep a box of baking soda right by the stove at home and the station, because extinguishers are fine for big fires but soda handles those hot oil moments way cleaner. Anyone else had a kitchen mishap that changed their everyday routine?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_john14d ago

My buddy at Station 9 had the exact same thing happen with bacon grease last month, only he tried salt first and it just made a mess. The baking soda trick is gold because it smothers the oxygen without the chemical mess or the dust cloud you get from an extinguisher. I actually tested it at home with a small grease fire in a pan to see how fast it worked, and it was under three seconds. Now I keep two boxes in the kitchen, one right by the stove and one in the pantry just in case. Did your captain explain why baking soda works better than the extinguisher for those hot oil fires?

river_adams2514d ago

Got a buddy who tried the salt thing on a grease fire last year and he said it just made the pan explode with smoke. He ended up dumping a whole box of baking soda on it and the fire went out in like two seconds flat. Definitely keeping that tip in mind, @the_john, because he now swears by keeping a box near the stove.