Are you prepared for a kitchen fire?

rascal said:
They run an advertisement here on the shortest or is it the longest day, saying change your batteries on smoke alarm. We have two down and two upstairs.

Russ
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Yeah, we're supposed to change them twice a year, when we reset the clocks. I'm generally good about that, so either my alarms are faulty (they're only two years old), dirty (I clean them every time I vacuum), or I'm getting power surges (can't do much to fix that).
 
TastyReuben said:
Yeah, we're supposed to change them twice a year, when we reset the clocks. I'm generally good about that, so either my alarms are faulty (they're only two years old), dirty (I clean them every time I vacuum), or I'm getting power surges (can't do much to fix that).
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Add to the smoke alarm a burglar alarm remote. My remotes need changing as well, it normally goes beep during the night. I find myself sitting in the office downstairs until I diagnose what's beeping. I've stopped setting the alarm. It's pretty safe around here. We have cameras as well.

Russ
 
caseydog
Thanks for the topic. We are not at all prepared for any fire emergency.
There is one smoke alarm in the house. No batteries. 1 Jurassic fire extinguisher in the dark corner under the kitchen sink.
Last week G cooked steaks. I always lightly brush a cast iron skillet with oil. I brush the steak with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. G turned on the gas grill with the skillet inside to heat. When he put the steak in the pan it flamed up. Residual grease in the bottom of the grill caught fire. He turned off the burners and closed the lid but flames continued to shoot out from the bottom of the grill. The grill sits next to a wood lattice divider. Not smart. The lattice has some char marks.
G bought some kind of remote alert thing that never got installed.
My sweet G will not be a happy camper but I will begin a subtle, gentle nagging process to correct the basic safety issues.
After 29 years I know how to get his attention. :wink:
 
ElizabethB said:
caseydog
Thanks for the topic. We are not at all prepared for any fire emergency.
There is one smoke alarm in the house. No batteries. 1 Jurassic fire extinguisher in the dark corner under the kitchen sink.
Last week G cooked steaks. I always lightly brush a cast iron skillet with oil. I brush the steak with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. G turned on the gas grill with the skillet inside to heat. When he put the steak in the pan it flamed up. Residual grease in the bottom of the grill caught fire. He turned off the burners and closed the lid but flames continued to shoot out from the bottom of the grill. The grill sits next to a wood lattice divider. Not smart. The lattice has some char marks.
G bought some kind of remote alert thing that never got installed.
My sweet G will not be a happy camper but I will begin a subtle, gentle nagging process to correct the basic safety issues.
After 29 years I know how to get his attention. :wink:
Click to expand...

Lol, all women have a way of getting a guys attention. :)

Russ
 
ElizabethB said:
caseydog
Thanks for the topic. We are not at all prepared for any fire emergency.
There is one smoke alarm in the house. No batteries. 1 Jurassic fire extinguisher in the dark corner under the kitchen sink.
Last week G cooked steaks. I always lightly brush a cast iron skillet with oil. I brush the steak with EVOO and season with salt and pepper. G turned on the gas grill with the skillet inside to heat. When he put the steak in the pan it flamed up. Residual grease in the bottom of the grill caught fire. He turned off the burners and closed the lid but flames continued to shoot out from the bottom of the grill. The grill sits next to a wood lattice divider. Not smart. The lattice has some char marks.
G bought some kind of remote alert thing that never got installed.
My sweet G will not be a happy camper but I will begin a subtle, gentle nagging process to correct the basic safety issues.
After 29 years I know how to get his attention. :wink:
Click to expand...

I had a grill fire a couple years ago. A brand new Trager pellet grill/smoker. It gave me trouble from day one. Trager had to send me a new control unit. I replaced it, and lit it up for a test fire. I went inside to get a drink, came back out, and there were flames two feet tall coming out of ever orifice of the grill.

Luckily, my patio is acid stained concrete, and the nearest wall is brick. So, no panic.

I just unplugged it from the power, got my garden water hose, and hosed it down.

Traeger got their grill/smoker back in pieces tossed into the original box. I got my money back. So, reasonably good ending.

CD
 
TastyReuben said:
Just bought a basic home extinguisher today, $20. Cheap peace of mind.

To go along with the same topic, remember my griping about smoke detectors chirping in the middle of the night? Well, one chirped, woke me up, and so the next day, I changed all the batteries and vacuumed them all out.

Two nights later, a different one chirped. That resulted in my ripping it off the ceiling and throwing it half the length of the house, smashing it into a thousand little pieces across the living room.

Yesterday...another one started chirping, and I heard it chirp again this morning. After doing a little research, I've found permanently-sealed 10-year-battery-life detectors. I think I'm going to buy those and hope for the best. Right now, we're down to two out of four detectors (although three of them are within four feet of each other), so I want to get those replaced fairly soon.
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I had the one in my bedroom start chirping at 2AM, and I went to the garage, got a ladder, and changed the backup battery. It kept on chirping. I took mine outside to throw it.

Here is what a smoke alarm looks like after impact with a brick wall...

Smoke001.jpg


All of mine have died, and been replaced. I need special ones, because they are hard-wired into the house, and tied together, so when one goes off, they all go off -- supposedly, I've never tested it. The batteries are just backup power. It's building code here in Frisco.

CD
 
Mine are hard-wired as well. I just replaced them all a couple of years ago, but with fairly basic one, and I'm replacing them again if for no other reason that the battery-changing design is a mess.

A little side access panel swings out, but there's nothing to tell you which way the battery goes in, and if you're like me, you take the old battery out without looking at how it was situated, then grab the new battery and think, "Ok...which way does this go in...?" - and the little space the battery fits in, it's impossible removing/replacing a battery without getting some piece of the detector jammed up one of your fingernails.
 
TastyReuben said:
Mine are hard-wired as well. I just replaced them all a couple of years ago, but with fairly basic one, and I'm replacing them again if for no other reason that the battery-changing design is a mess.

A little side access panel swings out, but there's nothing to tell you which way the battery goes in, and if you're like me, you take the old battery out without looking at how it was situated, then grab the new battery and think, "Ok...which way does this go in...?" - and the little space the battery fits in, it's impossible removing/replacing a battery without getting some piece of the detector jammed up one of your fingernails.
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I replace my sister's smoke alarm back-up batteries every year at Thanksgiving. Yes, they are a PITA to replace. I actually DO look at how the old battery went in, and put the new one in the same way. I've done it enough times to have learned that lesson.

I believe all my new ones have the ten year batteries. So, at some point, if I still live in my current house, I'll have to replace the smoke detectors. But, I had to replace all the old ones, with replaceable batteries, so there's no real difference.

CD
 
Great advice. I have a fire blanket, but if you asked me where it is it would be 'in the kitchen somewhere'. I'm in the process of doing some small reno jobs in the kitchen, so I will go now & find it & put it somewhere visible & easy to reach, and make sure that I include a place for it in the future.
 
I have the fire extinguisher for the kitchen, and I know how to use it. I even check it. (We had to know this stuff when I worked in a lab).

I just ordered and got a fire blanket. They say to hang it up. Well, this will probably happen in the pantry. No real space to hang it in the kitchen and it is kinda ugly. Maybe I can PUT it somewhere in the kitchen without hanging it.
 
I've got more than one fire extinguisher.
 
I live in an apartment so our alarms get checked every six months. I also have a fire extinguisher under the sink.

Twice now, I've passed out while cooking and it smoked enough to set off the alarm. It will automatically call the fire department and they get in with a master key. Both times they had to revive me, but it wasn't due to smoke inhalation (no, my doctor doesn't know why I randomly pass out). This is one reason that I won't use my stove or oven if I'm alone. I don't want to jeopardize my neighbors.

I work around this limitation with small appliances with auto-shut-off such as my Crock-pot, air fryer and toaster oven. I also make meals ahead when my caregiver is here so I just have to reheat in the microwave.

Our high school typing teacher advised us to NEVER leave all the windows closed in a car because the car could fill up with exhaust fumes from the car in front and become dangerous very quickly. I listened to that advice and always left a window cracked in my vehicle and I do it at home as well. I definitely get all four seasons here in the Midwest (USA) but there is a window cracked open year round.

ETA: I have a small fireproof safe with all my important documents and a carry-on size suitcase with clothes and essentials packed and ready to go in the front closet. I've never had to use them, thankfully, but I'm ready.
 
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My neighbors just moved back into their house last week. Five months!

CD
 
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