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Sep 8, 2009 3:26 pm US/Central
Fire Sprinklers Put Out Kitchen Fire In St. Paul
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
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An apartment unit was recently saved, thanks to a sprinkler system. (file)
An apartment unit on the 1220-block of St. Anthony Avenue sustained little damage Monday night, thanks to its trusty sprinkler system.
A single fire sprinkler was all it took for a cooking oil fire in a fourth-floor apartment to be extinguished. The resident, of the 24-floor story building, left the oil cooking unattended and when it burst into flames, she brought the pan from the kitchen into the living room.
When she poured water into the hot, flaming oil, it flared up and set off the fire sprinkler.
Because of the sprinkler, the apartment sustained very little damage and no one was displaced from their homes.
St. Paul Firefighters were then called to another cooking fire in the 1500-block of Chelsea Street, just a few minutes after the St. Anthony fire. This time, the resident placed a lid over the pan of burning oil to extinguish the flames.
The St. Paul Fire Department reminds residents that fire sprinklers are an efficient and effective method of built-in fire protection. Fire sprinklers are 96 percent successful in controlling or extinguishing fires with just one or two sprinklers going off.
Fire sprinklers spray water directly onto a fire, while sounding an alarm to the fire department and are especially effective in homes and apartments where most fires occur and where 100 percent of fire deaths occur in St. Paul.
Careless cooking is the leading cause of building fires in Minnesota, according to the department, and unattended cooking is the leading factor.
To prevent cooking fires, the St. Paul Fire Department suggests the following:
- Never leave cooking unattended, not even for a few minutes. If you leave the kitchen, turn off the stove.
- Keep anything that can catch fire, including oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, etc., away from your stovetop.
- Keep the stovetop, burners and oven clean.
- Use an electric fryer instead of the stovetop.
If you have a cooking fire, the department suggests the following:
- Have working smoke alarms and practice a fire escape plan. Make sure you have two ways out and a meeting place outside.
- Do not remove a pan from the stovetop while it's on fire. It can spill and cause severe burns.
- When in doubt, get out. Close the door behind you and call 911.
- 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. Then turn off the burner and do not move the pan. Leave the lid on until the pan is completely cool.
- Have a portable fire extinguisher mounted near the doorway of the kitchen.
- Never pour water on a cooking oil fire.
Fire sprinklers disperse very small droplets of water, which are effective in cooling a fire. Pouring water on an oil fire causes the water to penetrate the burning oil, turning it to steam so fast that it literally explodes.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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