From trays of Christmas baking to traditional holiday recipes and dinners, many Canadian kitchens will be filled with delicious aromas between now and Dec. 25, which is also the period when cooking-related house fires spike.
The Canada Safety Council is reminding Canadians that the most common cause of home fires during the holiday season isn’t candles or Christmas trees: it’s unattended cooking. Fortunately, there’s an easy recipe for avoiding them, which calls for equal parts awareness and attention, with a pinch of common sense.
“The kitchen should be the heart of the home, not the hazard,” says Gareth Jones, president and CEO of the Canada Safety Council. “The holidays bring joy and togetherness, but also distraction. Staying alert and taking a few simple precautions can make all the difference between a memorable meal and a dangerous accident.”
According to Firefighting in Canada, from 2011 to 2020 an average of 220 people died in Canada every year due to fires. Statistics Canada notes that almost one-third of fires from 2015 to 2021 were related to cooking. During that time period it was the leading cause of fire incidents and injuries, at 32 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.
Here are some ways to stay safe and avoid being a statistic this Christmas.
Stay with your station: Most kitchen fires start when the cook steps away “just for a minute.” Grease can ignite faster than you can unwrap a stick of butter. If you must leave the room, even briefly, turn off the stove, or ask someone to keep watch. Multitasking and open flames are not a good pairing.
Control your chaos: Clutter is a quiet saboteur. Keep oven mitts, utensils, packaging, and towels well clear of heat sources. Wipe up oil splatter as it happens; residue buildup can ignite later, long after the meal’s over. And if you’re deep-frying, use a thermometer and stay below 175 C (350 F). Hot oil doesn’t need an invitation to explode.
Dress for the task: Flowing sleeves, scarves, and polyester blends can make for fine holiday fashion but poor fire-resistant gear. Opt for fitted clothing, or make sure that sleeves are rolled up snugly. It takes just one brush of fabric across a burner to start a chain reaction you’ll remember for all the wrong reasons.
Watch the kids and pets: Keep children away from stoves and ovens. Children often want to feel included in this element of the holidays, so give them age-appropriate tasks like washing, stirring, and setting the table. Regardless of what those tasks may be, stove-related activities are generally not recommended for children, especially in potentially hectic or high-traffic situations like the holidays.
House pets, too, are known to take advantage of the chaos and try to scoop up any food that might be dropped. This in turn creates a tripping hazard, as a busy kitchen may not afford room to notice or react to the pet. Because of this, it’s always a good idea to maintain constant supervision of your furry friends and keep them out of the way.
Know how to react: If a pan ignites, never move it. Smother it with a metal lid or baking sheet and kill the heat. Baking soda can help with small grease fires; water will only make things worse. Make sure every adult in the household knows where the fire extinguisher is and how to use it (and check it to make sure it actually works).
A little prevention goes a long way. But should these preparations still lead to the worst-case scenario, be sure to have an exit plan that every member of the family is familiar with.