My apartment just about burned down. · 8:45pm May 14th, 2021
Because of fish.
Or, rather, breaded fish.
My wife and I tried a new recipe of breaded chicken, and everything was going well until... the oil got too hot? Something. Either way, I was in our main room and heard my wife say "the stove is on fire."
Naturally, I rushed to the kitchen, and sure enough, the pan and the under the... stove coil... things. Whatever that's called, were both on fire. My wife carefully took the pan off of the fire and turned the heat off, and we hoped that that would take care of things, and everything would burn out in a few seconds. Stove, yes. Pan... no. The flames kept getting higher, until they were almost to the cabinets. That would be bad. She takes the pan off of the stove.
Thankfully, we were learned enough to know that you never put an oil fire in water. Never, ever, ever. Unless you're trying for arson. Covering the fire is good, and, failing that and a fire extinguisher, salt or baking soda will work, as Google told me.
My newborn was on his bouncer behind us as burning oil starts splashing on the floor. I quickly grab him and put him on the couch as the fire alarm goes off, freaking out my two year old, who before this point had been amused by the fire, as he loves seeing things like lit matches and candles. The pan is still burning, and the alarms are going off, and my two year old is screaming because it's loud, and I keep trying to think of what to do. I take our diaper bag out of the line of fire (pun intended) and that allows my wife to back up a bit.
Then a fair amount of oil sloshes out of the pan. And the floor catches on fire. A lot of fire. Big fire.
And I thought "this is it. We're going to lose everything" but thankfully it burned out after a few seconds. I opened the door, and my wife went out and put the flaming pan on the concrete, waiting for it to burn out, which it eventually did. We then opened up all of the windows and doors to get the smoke out. Once it's cleared enough, we turn the alarms off and get to comforting my two year old and recovering from our major heart attacks.
What's my newborn doing while his brother is crying and two smoke detectors go off? Lightly complain a bit and then doze off. He is the chillest baby that's ever been.
Somehow everything went right. The worst we got was a ruined pan, burned chicken, a bit of damage to the floor, and my wife had first degree burns on her legs. Painful, but not too damaging. If...
My son was close to my wife when some of the burning oil sloshed out...
We had carpet instead of hardwood...
The oil had splashed on an empty cardboard six pack of Mike's Hard right next to the oven...
My two year old hadn't taken my wife's socks off not too long before all of this as a joke, something he has never done...
Or any number of other things, I'd be telling a much worse story. *Shudder.*
We haven't tried that recipe again.
The pan was ruined.
The chicken was cooked through really nicely, though.
Geeze dude, you guys are lucky it wasn't worse. Glad you're all okay
Yeesh. Sounds like a scene from a horror movie. Thank god you made it out alive though.
Im happy that everyone is okay. also you need to change the title
Sorry to hear that man, hope you and your family can get back on your feet soon.
Dont think about the bad.
the bad will pass, and worry just leads to more mistakes
Grats on surviving bud.
Jeez, what a nightmare, I'm glad everything turned out okay in the end! Just goes to show, you always keep a fire extinguisher on-hand, always, you never know when you'll have a fire emergency.
Wow, to say that had to be petrifying would be an insult... I would definitely not want to poteintally die in a burning house
. I see that as one of the worst ways to go...
On the bright side, thank the gods you and your family are okay... and tell your wife I said that I hope she recovers from her injuries soon
.
Jeez. l am so sorry to hear that... but praise the gods that it didn't get any worse then it did
Dang, glad you're okay and alive...
Something somewhat similar happened to me when I was younger. And by "younger" I mean 8 years old.
We just wanted some darn fries, man.
Too bad my dad and I forgot about them for a quick game of chess. In his defense, I remember him setting the fire to minimum, while we played our game in the living room (or was it the bedroom? can't remember for sure). And it wasn't that the game took so long that the frying pan caught fire, no, not at all... But somehow, upon finishing the game, we were oblivious to what we had left in the kitchen and each of us proceeded to doing other stuff. I can't remember many details, for it happened quite a while ago. But I do remember how startled we were when smoke entered our room.
We had no fire alarm installed and no extinguisher at hand.
That got us quickly into the kitchen, and little as I was, I froze at the incendiary display of the biggest fire I had seen in my life rushing up from the pan and trying to conquer the ceiling, coating it black as pitch. Thankfully, my dad was aware that pouring water on it could only backfire (pun somewhat intended) catastrophically.
Fortunately, it was winter, and next to the kitchen was the door leading to the snow covered balcony.
Upon carefully managing to turn the darn stove off, he took a kitchen towel and handled the pan, intent on placing it outside on the balcony. After waiting for the fire to lose enough strength, dad pushed a lump of snow lying near on top of the pan, extinguishing the fire in the process.
The apartment was still filled with smoke, even with our windows wide open, but luckily nothing else had caught fire during the whole ordeal. The smoke would clear, but its smell and the blackened ceiling would stick to our apartment for some days.
That night when I went to sleep, I remember shuddering, trembling under the covers and holding them oh-so-tightly to my chest. Marked by what happened, and also (over)thinking of what could've happened had we failed to noticed the fire in time. Some silent tears were shed too from the intense stress. It would take a while before I calmed down enough in order to let myself fall into sleep's embrace, before images of worse and more horrible outcomes stopped invading my mind. I don't think I dreamt that night.
* * *
I really am sorry for the ordeal that happened to you, but also relieved to learn you're okay. Even if the actual aftermath had done little harm, I know just how hard it is not to imagine other more bleak and horrible scenarios that could've happened under different circumstances.
Take care, man.
D:
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As a chef, contact me any time and I'll help you through the cooking process.
Your best option would have been to just cover the pan with a lid or (assuming they're not plastic) a plate. As it stands, just treat it as a learning experience. If there's ever a 'next time' you'll be ready to handle it. I'm glad it all turned out alright.
Too much oil, not enough lid, and insufficient allocation of resources. (i.e. Honey, get the kids out of the room and I'll handle this") I haven't burned anything to the point of flames, but I have caught the children and my wife doing the "Put something on the stove and leave the room" routine. I just go turn off the burner, and an hour or so later when they start complaining, I just say I saved a trip by the fire department.
Fuckin....yikes.
Good heavens, glad you're alright.
I won't lie, I'm curious about this recipe, but given the close call, I won't ask for it at this time. Is good to know everyone is uninjured (mostly) and that any damage was minor.
When I saw the title, I nearly had a heart attack. Thank goodness you're alright. That could have gone way worse.
I now understand juat why nobody carpets their kitchen.
They had us in the first half, not gonna lie
I’m sad that happened to you man, but holy shit am I happy for you that you got lucky & things were only minorly damaging.
That’s the kinda experience that actually gives people heart attacks. Take it easy this coming week
First, my condolences on an obviously scary as hell experience. I hope it was a valuable learning one and that next time there's an issue you'll be better prepared for it. Panicking in a fire never goes well. Taking the pan outside was a good move if you can do it.
Whelp, too late now but token advice from a guy who has both set his stove on fire (clean your stove regularly people, grease accumulates) and likes frying chicken.
Smother fires man. Plop the biggest lid you have on top of that sucker and let it rest, it'll burn out fast. Or a baking pan, anything flat and big enough to cover the pot/pan. Barring that, sprinkle baking soda on it. Sprinkle, not dump, as dumping it will just splatter hot oil everywhere and kind of defeats the purpose.
I'd also suggest a fire extinguisher, as it's just good to have one. A small ABC class fire extinguisher is under 20 bucks and will cover everything from normal fires, grease and liquids, and electrical fires. Stick it on top of your refrigerator so it's close but out of the way and if there's ever an emergency again you can just grab it without having to dig through your pantry or closet to find it. It may save your life one day and it's cheap. I keep one in my pantry on a nifty little rack I built to hold it.
As for preventing oil fires - first don't use much oil. Unless you've got a deep fryer that makes a 10lb bag of French fries at once you don't need a lot. A high edge pot and keep the oil under an inch. Honestly you don't even need that if your doing something like chicken and don't mind turning it over as it cooks. Chicken and such you want under half an inch thick so it cooks all the way though without burning the breading, so all you really need oil wise is 1/4 - 1/3 inch deep. Doesn't need a lot.
Keep the oil at the right temperature. Oil has a flash point, and it's definitely lower than what your average burner can reach. Warm it on medium heat, use an oil thermometer, keep it around 350. Use a high smoke oil like vegetable oil, those can get hotter without catching fire and it's cheap. Don't heat it up at high heat, keep it medium and just wait for it to get hot enough. The oil should not be boiling or sputtering or anything, that's a sign your oil is waaaaay too hot. It should fizzle when you put the food in but not spray in the air. If your seeing droplets of oil hitting your stove you need to turn the temp down immediately and let it cool, preferably with a lid overtop.
If you don't have a thermometer toss in a kernel of popcorn in the oil and wait for it to pop. It pops right around 350 degrees which is what you usually want for frying. Good way to know when the temperature is right and not too hot. When the popcorn kernel pops set the temp to low simmer and start frying. Raise the temp again between batches because cooking will lower the temperature of the oil. But you can just toss in another popcorn kernel and turn down the heat once it pops.
Glad to see you kept calm and rational and the first thought was the kids. And good your managed to save stuff..
...now where was the fish involved? Was it chicken or fish?
Holy shit, very happy that you survived with relative minor burns and only minor damage to the house.
Talk about a scary moment.
And this is why I always make sure to have a solid lid at least as large as whatever tool I'm cooking with.
Thing's on fire? Throw the lid on. Choke that bastard.
At least you got out of there alive.
Glad to hear you and family are ok, weve had several intresting events in the kitchens over the years, what with forgetting things and leaving things cooking while other more important things were needed, like a phone call to freinds in teh case of the dried eggs on fire.
The best example of even how professionals can have things go wrong, is the Fire Brigades demonstration of why you DO NOT put water on oil fire, and the fireman with the very long handled cup, wearing full protective gear, needed it as the pan flashed far more violently than they were expecting. Sunflower oil is essentially diesel, Cant remember the specs for the various other stuff claimed to be cooking oil these days.
Dont use one of those oil sprays as thats for fancy cooking like searing, and theres not enough coating to stop the protiens bonding to the non stick surface. If youre going to float, take it slow, easy, and observable. Unfortunately, is the price of a delicious fried meal, worth the cost of fried kid in an accident. Thank goodness you didnt find this out due to consequences.
Watch out for crmbs building up in the toaster. Kids woke us up a couple weeks ago with the smoke alarm at 5 am jamming two slices in one slot. Watch out for grease in the oven, that sucker can wait at heat till you oopen the door, and like my sister, the blast of hot smoke in your face can take you out before you can react.
Dont leave eggs, even on low, to boil unless you have a timer or are by them, Ive forgotton a couple times, and at least once had the smoke alarm go off when the eggs calcined. After 2 and a half hours.
Glad your all ok for the most part, hopefully things get better for you all
That was close.
Is this a caroeted kitchen?
Glad that you all made out relatively okay.
The title made me think it actually burned down for the most part..... Why do you not have a fire extinguisher in your apartment?
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It's right outside of our apartment, and we weren't completely sure it was an ABC one.
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You should probably get a fire extinguisher inside your apartment. Rushing out to get the other one could take too long if that happens again.
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Oh, trust me. We did.
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Good.
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after almost doing the same thing I have a fire blanket in my kitchen.
I’m glad things turned out as well as they did but next time…. Using a lid to smother the fire may help
Honestly… thank god it wasn’t worse. I hope you all recover quickly. Both from burns and the smoke inhalation
very glad you are all alright
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agreed on the fire blanket. effective, safe, and not as much mess.
I've been in similar situations before. once a pot of pasta boiled over, the hot water splashed oil drippings that had collected under the stove top onto the burner and lit the whole drip pan.
that time I was forced to use the fire estghisher as the flames were tall and threatened the cabinets. put it out immediately but clean up was painful.
second time it was frying chicken and the pan lit. that one I was able to put out with a lid.
Glad to hear that you made it out. Just didn't expect to see this when I got on to check the usual. Hope you and your family are doing well.
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What kind of oil did you use?