Small Kitchen Fire

[sunflowersprings]

Not really an AIBU but posting here for traffic!

I’ve just had a relatively small kitchen fire and not really sure what I need to do next. I’ve only been in my new build house a month, I could cry.

I’ve been feeling grotty all day and was cooking something to eat in the kitchen and I must have passed out because I came round to the smoke alarms blaring and the frying pan on fire on the hob. I’ve got the fire out now but one of my kitchen cabinets is burnt and essentially ruined and the ?grates on the extractor hood above the hob are black and damaged so I’m assuming they’re going to need to go and there’s black marks on the ceiling from the fire/smoke.

could the smoke damage to the ceiling have affected the electrics? Do I need to call someone out to check over that and the appliances? Do I need to contact my home insurance? I thought about calling the fire brigade but that seems a bit silly since the fire is out. Just after some practical advice because I could cry right now, I’ve literally only just bought this house after years of renting!

what a horrible experience, and it is good to know the fire alarms work.

you will probably need to contact your home insurance tomorrow.

I'll let someone more knowledgeable say if you need to do anything else today.

So sorry to hear this. Definitely contact your House insurance they should cover all the damage. BUT, I’m really concerned about you. Have you blacked out before? I think you need to see your GP in the morning and get checked out. This could have been really dangerous for you.
please get checked out just to be safe.
take care

Thank you both, I’ll give home insurance a call tomorrow.

Not passed out before but I haven’t really been drinking much the last 24 hours with feeling grotty so suspect I could just be dehydrated! I’m going to ring the GP first thing as I’ve got some burns to my hands from putting out the fire that I’d like checked too- two birds one stone!.

I rang my local non emergency fire station number and a lovely lady sent a very nice crew straight round (they were here within 5 minutes!) and they’ve checked and don’t think there’s any long term damage to worry about thankfully in terms of ceiling/electrics/hidden fires so at least it’s just cosmetic. Still feeling on the verge of tears about it though! What a night!

Phone insurers and ask for a restoration company to visit and get to the Drs, asap, you can’t just be passing out, what if you fell on the cooking or were driving or in the bath

You're so so lucky you're OK. Seeing a doctor I would suggest is a priority. Then as everyone says, insurance.

Put your hands in a bowl of icy water and keep them there for twenty minutes.Change the water so it stays cold. This will stop the burn penetrating if fat was involved, and help you to heal more quickly.

Definitely get the blackout looked into ( although this can be caused by stress, such as moving, it’s not necessarily a symptom of a lasting condition).

hopefully the fire brigade coming reassured you.
What's your local A&E like? Going there tonight may take your mind off things compared to being in the house on your own - you need to get checked out and it is an accident.
Failing that, is there any friends/family you can either visit or can come to you?

Aside from meeting the claim, insurance can be very helpful - when I had a flood from the flat upstairs, they insisted that the boiler (very close to where water had been pouring through) needed to be checked first, although the fire service have already done some preliminary checks.

It's a couple of hours ago now - hopefully you're feeling a bit calmer.

Don’t attempt to do any cleaning or sort the house out. Leave it too you’ve talked to the insurance, they may want to see things first.
I had a fairly bad house fire (house uninhabitable) and that’s what the insurers said. Call them first thing but if your burns are over the size of a 50p piece you should get them looked at ASAP.

I would say hold off on ringing the insurance. You've had the fire brigade check out the premises and you will seek medical attention for your burns.
Kitchen cupboard plus extractor replacement will be approx £200.
If you get the insurance involved, you'll be looking at a hike in future renewals and flagged for raising a claim, or even just a claim enquiry, whatever you do, don't let them know you fainted.

I had a similar small kitchen fire recently, and I understand how scary it is. But in the cold light of day I decided not to include insurance. A wash down with sandsoap got most of the soot off and they I just did a coat of paint to match the rest of the room. Hope you're ok physically OP.

OP I'm slightly going off topic here and I hope you are OK.

If you've passed out for so long that your cupboards set on fire you need to put some safety elements in place for yourself while doctors investigate. I'm epileptic (not saying you are though!) and the things I was advised to do when first diagnosed were to keep the door open if I had a bath, not cross the road except at crossings, and for you I'd say stick to oven or microwave cooking until you're sure it's a blip.

You must have been out for some time not to have smelled smoke etc.

Was going to say this too. Will cost you more in insurance hikes than it will to sort yourself.

Thanks everyone! The advice has been really helpful. I have a doctors appointment at 9:30 so heading there now then I’ll attempt to clean the kitchen and see how bad it looks.

Soooo anxious to leave the house now in case I come back to it burnt to the ground. I feel like such an idiot

My advice would be to get the insurance co in and to not use the kitchen until they have assessed. The soot from fires involving various substances can be very carcinogenic, tiny carbon particles are pushed under pressure of hot air inside all sorts of electrics and appliances and become a fire hazard themselves for the future.

Insurance companies have a specialist clean up team.

The builders may well be helpful, if they are still on site.

Ours did things like put blinds up for us!

They will be the cheapest to organise mending as well- they’ll have access to the same kitchen cabinets and so on.