FFS almost set fire to my flat!

[Totur]

I'm bloody shaking.

I was cooking an omelette on the hob and must have managed to splash grease onto the hob plate while attempting to turn the omelette over. Massive flames rose about a foot and a half in the air.

I was fucking petrified! Despite being a trained fire warden in more than one previous employment, I literally froze! Blessedly, the flame burned out as quick as it started, but good God, it frightened the life out of me.

I tried to turn off the hob (electric, so a bit pointless) but managed to turn on another ring instead. For about 5 or 10 seconds I was thinking WTF and am sorry to say that I genuinely didn't know what to do. I don't have a fire extinguisher or fire blanket but realised in those few seconds that I literally wouldn't have had time to do anything anyway!

Bloody hell. Time to regroup and have a little think for myself.

Thing is, there is no extractor fan or anything above the cooker. Just an encased something or another above the cooker - encased in wood presumably! We'd have gone up like newspaper if it hadn't burned itself out!!

Scary!
I imagine this situation a lot. I tell myself I would wet a teatowel and throw it over, but I don’t know if I would actually think to do it in the moment. Glad you are okay

Fucking oven anyway! It was the cheapest one I could buy at the time when I moved in, but you can't actually clean the plates as they crumble apart while trying to wipe them.

Honestly, it's not good for your heart!

Note to self: Clean kitchen as I'm in a middle of a clear-out so there are bags of rubbish IN THE DOORWAY. Make a plan to exit if anything ever happens again! My kitchen is tiny - just about room for two people to turn around in - it would have engulfed the whole place in seconds if it had taken hold.

It was bloody scary how quick and high the fire got in less than half a second!

That sounds like a horrible experience. Can you try to reframe it as a positive (I.e. a learning experience and your flat didn't burn down).

In case of future emergencies, a soaking wet tea towel/towel/sheet/item of clothing makes a makeshift fire blanket.

I think if I had put a wet teatowel on this it would have gone on fire too. It was really scary how high and big the flames were!

Maybe, as a precaution, you can get the encased whatever re-cased in metal rather than wood?

It's funny - even with training, I don't think anything could prepare you for the speed of a fire. Fucking hell. I'll be having nightmares.

You can watch as many videos as you like, but the reality is bloody scary!

I've a feeling that whatever is encased is some sort of pipe work or something. If it's gas, a few more seconds of flames and the whole block would have gone up!!

It's a council flat, so it's probably done in compliance with regs, but when I think of it and seeing how high the flames reached, I might give them a call in the morning just to see that it's not wood.

I always leave the kitchen door open too, so that's being closed from now on! I wouldn't have stood a chance if it had taken hold properly.

Oil /fat will catch extraordinarily quickly, you must be very shaken. But try not to stay awake ruminating, you are okay and so is your flat 😊 If I was in your shoes I’d have a glass of wine and watch an episode of something frivolous like Friends to settle down x

Good ideas about calling the council tomorrow x

I've set fire to my kitchen twice I've got a fire blanket now. Luckily I was able to put them out.

@JamAndCreamBiccies Your ticker must be in better shape than mine lol, I've a blooming pain in my chest now!
I wouldn't mind but I've never gotten gas as I'm afraid of accidentally setting the place on fire, or leaving it leaking. Bloody hell, I never imagined an electric hob being a danger!

That said, my cooking leaves a lot to be desired though, so I'm probably a danger in a kitchen either way!

Get a fire blanket and extinguisher OP. We did.

TBH I don't know whether you could put a fire blanket on a hot hob? Surely it would burn through it eventually? With your standard fire extinguisher, could I have used that?

When dealing with grease or electric fires, you should always use a fire blanket. The blanket itself is made out of fire retardant material that can be thrown over kitchen fires to smother the flames. The blanket can also be safely wrapped around all living beings if they become engulfed in flames. Because of this, a fire blanket, not a fire extinguisher, should be stored within the kitchen.

A fire extinguisher can be used to put out all other types of flames, including ordinary combustibles fires, flammable liquids or gas fires and metal fires.

One example of this is a campfire quickly becoming out of hand and spreading to nearby grass. This is considered a combustible fire and can be put out with an extinguisher.

Another example of when to use a fire extinguisher would be if a gasoline tank started to leak and a fire was started because of it. This is a gas fire, so an extinguisher may be used.

It's been a while since I did my fire training, but will see about getting a fire blanket.

I'm too blooming awake now to sleep either!

I have done this and like you have been trained and all I did was squeal and my partner came in and put it out (it also caught on a tea towel)

I went out and bought a fire blanket, it had been on my list to buy for ages, but it was one of those I will get round to it items. I went out and got one the next day

Thankfully there was nothing flammable right beside it or it might be a different tale I'd be telling.

Like you, a fire blanket is on my to-do list, but the speed of this shocked me, if there had been any more fuel for it to burn, I genuinely don't think I'd have had time to do anything.

I think the shock was seeing such a big fire in such a small space. Cluttered to hell due to a combination of a load of dishes everywhere, bags of rubbish etc.

Enough to scare me into doing something anyway.

I once was seasoning a wok and stupidly left the room. Came back in to foot and a half flames and black smoke pooling around the ceiling. First damp tea towel fell in and caught fire (!) But second one put it out. That was 2 cups of oil. It was fine. You have time and I'm sure you would have dealt with it had it been a more serious fire.

I now have a fire blanket and extinguisher and recommend you get some too!

Happens to me at least 5 times every day at work. Blow it out! It works... oil burns itself out quickly depending on the amount. My pans forever catch on fire because of the ferocious heat i use (at work!) it’s a big flame, but it’s over quickly. Staying calm is the important thing, you could even use another pan or a lid to put on top. You’re good op, not as dramatic as it seemed at the time.

Hope you managed to get some sleep.It really is very scary, isn't it?
I had a period from my mid teens to my early 20s where, as a result of a combination of learning to care for myself and living in crappy flats, I regularly (absolutely accidentally) set fire to my surroundings. I highly recommend a fire blanket.

The high flames were the oil burning off - not an actual combustible material of your house on fire.

It takes more than a few seconds of flame for something like a wood window frame to catch fire unless it’s been painted in some kind of illegal paint.

Scary sure, but you didn’t nearly burn your flat down.

Do get a fire blanket though. Good practice to have those in kitchens.

You've just reminded me to check the powder extinguisher I keep in our camping stuff. I think it might be out of date.
I did set fire to a grill pan at university once. That was scary!