This year’s Fire Prevention Week (FPW) campaign, “Cooking safety starts with YOU. Pay attention to fire prevention,” works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe when cooking.
Did you know? Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires and deaths.
What can you do? The good news is you can prevent most cooking fires and burns. Help keep your family safer with some simple but effective tips.
In a fire, mere seconds can mean the difference between a safe escape and a tragedy. Fire safety education isn’t just for school children. Teenagers, adults, and the elderly are also at risk of fires, making it important for every member of the community to take some time every October during Fire Prevention Week to make sure they understand how to stay safe in case of a fire.
In 2022 there were 1,891 cooking fires in the State of Connecticut resulting in $2,346,652 of property losses and $3,169,385 in total losses.
Fire Prevention Week cooking safety messages we’re trying to educate everyone on, are:
- STAND BY YOUR PAN: Keep a close eye on what you’re cooking. For foods with long cooking times (simmering or baking), set a timer to monitor them carefully.
- PUT A LID ON IT: Cover a fire on the stovetop with a lid or cookie sheet to smother the flames, then turn off the burner. Never try to move a burning pan or douse it with water: this could spread the flames.
- KEEP IT CLEAN: Clean up grease spills and spatter so they don’t catch fire. Clear the cooking area of anything that can burn, such as dish towels, oven mitts, food packing, and paper towels.
- TURN POT HANDLES: toward the back of the stove, this helps reduce bumps and spills that can cause fires and burns.
- CREATE A “KID and PET FREE ZONE”: of at least three feet around the cooking area and anywhere else hot food or drink is prepared or carried.
Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9 in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.
