Representatives of the Sicamous Fire Department gave Eagle River Secondary students a memorable kitchen safety demonstration using a controlled grease fire on Monday, Oct. 5.
The correct method for dealing with a stove top fire will likely be seared in the home economics students’ memories after firefighters showed the inferno created when water is dumped on a grease fire.
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Sicamous Fire Chief Brett Ogino said the advice on grease fires was the climax of a discussion of kitchen safety which coincides with the nationally observed Fire Prevention Week. Ogino said unattended cooking is probably the leading cause of house fires. He said his discussion with the high school students also dealt with eliminating clutter in the kitchen and keeping flammable material away from the stove top.
Outside the school, Ogino and firefighter Shane McKellar set a grease fire on an outdoor stove and showed how water can spread the blaze. They also demonstrated how to extinguish the fire by cutting off oxygen to it using a pot lid or another pan. Ogino said fire extinguishers can also be used from a distance and baking soda is good for extinguishing grease fires as well.
jim.elliot@saobserver.net
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