Follow the safety tips below to protect yourself and your loved ones from a house fire that starts in the kitchen.

• Keep anything that can catch fire away from the stovetop (oven mitts, food packaging, etc.).
• Stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling or boiling food. If you must leave the room, turn off the stove.
• Be sure to thaw the turkey completely before cooking.
• Keep kids at least 3 feet away from the stove, oven, hot food and liquids.
• If you have a pan fire, place a lid on the pan and turn off the burner. Never throw water or use a fire extinguisher on a pan fire.
• If the fire does not go out or you don’t feel comfortable sliding a lid over the pan, get everyone out of your home. Call the fire department from outside. 
• Wear short, close-fitting, or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and can catch fire if it comes in contact with a gas flame or electric burner.  
• Never use an extension cord for cooking appliances as it can overload the circuit and cause a fire.  

 Always keep a lid nearby when you’re cooking. If a small grease fire starts in a pan, smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner. Do not move the pan. To keep the fire from restarting, leave the lid on until the pan is completely cool. In case of an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed. After a fire, the oven should be checked and/or serviced before being used again.  

Nuisance smoke alarms:

 If a smoke alarm sounds during normal cooking, you may need to move it farther away from the kitchen (according to manufacturer’s instructions) and/or install a smoke alarm with a pause button. If your alarm already has a pause button, push the pause button, open the door or window, and fan the area around the alarm with a towel to get the air moving. Do not disable the smoke alarm or take the batteries out! Treat every smoke alarm activation as a fire; react quickly and safely to the alarm. 

Barbeque Grill fires

Barbecue grills, stovetop and oven fires are not the only types of cooking fires. While many of the safety tips are similar to indoor cooking, there are special concerns with barbecue grills.  

• Position the grill well out from under eaves and overhanging branches.  
• Place the grill a safe distance from lawn games, play areas, and foot traffic.  
• Keep children and pets away from the grill area by declaring a three foot “kid-free zone” around the grill.  
• Put out several long-handled grilling tools to give the chef plenty of clearance from heat and flames when cooking food.  Periodically remove grease and fat buildup in trays below the grill so it cannot be ignited by a hot grill.  
• Use only outdoors! If used indoors, or in any enclosed spaces such as tents, barbecue grills pose both fire and carbon monoxide hazards.

 If you have a cooking fire, just get out! When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain the fire.  Call 9-1-1 after you leave.  If you do try to fight the fire, be sure others are already getting out and you have a clear path to the exit. 

The Town of Queen Creek offers a free recycling program for cooking oil. Cooking oil should never be dumped down a drain or disposed of in the trash, garbage containers, dumpsters, or down the public sewage system. Cooking oil poured down the drain negatively affects water quality and can cost thousands of dollars in sewer repairs from pipe blockages. Placing oil in your trash or recycling carts leads to contamination and spillage. It also has the potential to cause cart fires or fires in the collection vehicles.

Residents can recycle used cooking oil at no charge at the Town’s year-round grease collection sites, Fire Station 2 located at 24787 S. Sossaman Road and the QC Recycle Center located at 22638 S. Ellsworth Road.