You notice a burning smell in your kitchen, and as you enter the room, you see that your oven is on fire. When seeing something in flames, it is part of our instinct to start panicking, not knowing what to do. Take a breath first. You must stay calm in such situations to save your home and properly extinguish the fire in your oven.
Knowing what to do makes you more prepared for situations like this. And with that, we provide five emergency steps when your oven catches fire.
Five Emergency Steps When Your Oven Is On Fire
- Don’t open the oven door. Opening the oven door can worsen the situation by allowing oxygen in, which may lead to the flames bursting even more. Without air and oxygen, the fire will go out on its own.
- Turn everything off. Immediately turn the stove and oven off when a fire occurs to prevent further damage. If the fire is continuous, keep the flammables away from the fire and unplug the kitchen appliances near the flames.
- Do not use water. Never use water against oven and stove top appliances. Water can spread flames and is very dangerous around electric appliances.
- Prepare the fire extinguisher. Although keeping the oven door closed may put the fire out on its own, reach for your kitchen fire extinguisher if the flames continue to spread. If there’s no fire extinguisher available near the area, you can use a fire blanket or a wet towel to cover the burning oven.
- Call for help. If the fire worsens and keeps flaming, immediately evacuate with your family and pets, go to the safest place, and call the fire department, such as 911.
