In recognition of Fire Service Week 2016, NATION Online will be reproducing a series of articles on fire safety and fire prevention.
MANY A HOME FIRE starts in the kitchen where the stove is invariably the point of ignition.
Following are some safety tips to protect you and your family in the kitchen.
• Never position your stove near curtains or a grill near wooden siding.
• Always clean cooking surfaces after use to prevent the build-up of grease and food.
• Wear short or close-fitting sleeves. Dangling sleeves or apron strings and shirt tails can catch fire when they come in too close contact with flames. Also be careful wearing highly flammable clothes when using the open flame of a stove.
• Unattended burning stoves are a major cause of fires. Do not leave your stove unattended, and remember to turn it off if you hare leaving the house EVEN IF ONLY BRIEFLY. 
• Keep young children out of the kitchen when cooking and teach them not to play with the stove and matches from early.
• Do not keep gasoline or other flammable liquids in the kitchen.
• DO NOT SPRAY aerosols such as insecticides and oven-cleaners near open flames.
• Install smoke detectors in the kitchen.
Extinguishing Fires in the Kitchen
•Always have a fire extinguisher close at hand and know how to use it.
• Keep the over door closed and turn off the oven or broiler to smother a fire.
• If grease or oil in the pan on the stove flares up, slide a pan lid over the flames, turn off the flame and leave lid on until the pan cools.
• Never use water on grease fires. Baking soda may be used instead.
• Call the fire service if a fire breaks out in your kitchen.
