Prevent an Oven Fire in Your Door Home

11/5/2021 (Permalink)

Leave fire, smoke, and soot damage restoration to the professionals.

Cooking equipment, like your stove, is the leading cause of home fire occurrences.  The following are some common mistakes that could catch your oven on fire:

• Placing Greasy Food Too Close to Heat - fat (i.e. cooking oil) too close to a heat source can spark a flame.  Make sure to keep well oiled foods, especially ones with high moisture content, on lower level oven racks when using the broiler.
• Wax Paper vs. Parchment Paper - wax paper is not heat-resistant the way parchment paper is, so it will for sure melt when exposed to prolonged, high heat, and then the paper can easily catch fire.  Oven-safe parchment paper may darken in the oven, but will not catch fire.
• Dropping Food in the Oven - make sure to always clean up any food that dropped to the bottom of the oven while cooking or baking.  Larger pieces of dry food can potentially catch fire instantly.  
• Forgetting to Use a Baking Sheet - a very common mistake.  Pies and pizzas should be baked either directly on a baking sheet or with a baking sheet on the rack beneath to catch any drippings.
• Leaving Your Food Unattended - whenever you leave food unattended, you're at risk for it to burn, or you may forget how long it has been cooking.  Always set a timer as a reminder and keep an eye on the food while cooking.

If a fire does happen in your oven, the most important thing to remember is to keep the door closed, turn off the oven, and keep an eye on the flame.  This will keep the fire contained and should die down.

Have you experienced an oven fire in your Dorr home?  Call SERVPRO of Allegan / Barry County and SERVPRO of Van Buren County today, 269-686-0664