Happy Oven Fire Day...

My old man had the bottom element fail in the oven and he was telling me that he thought someone was welding in the oven. I have never used self clean function and the appliance sales guy was telling me it isn't good for the ovens as it heats them up to some obscene temperature.

I've chernobyled a few pots and pans, beets and artichokes are the most likely veggies to forget about and they need to boil forever. Last pan I cooked had the cladding actually fall off. Never started a fire yet, thanks for the warning and hopefully you have an uneventful thanksgiving Woody.

How do you not set off the smoke detectors when using the self-cleaning function on a stove?

My wife set off every one in our two story house. This was only a six month old oven that really wasn't all that dirty.

The sound was deafening. We were a little disappointed that none of our neighbors checked to make sure we weren't dying of asphyixation or that the house was burning down.

I keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, cheap insurance.

I did the wally move... had a grease fire start singing the fume hood, grabbed the pan, got flaming hot grease all over the carpet, and chucked it over the balcony. Only grease fire i've ever had.

oh, one more. I wasn't there to see it, but one Thanksgiving my parents put tin foil on the bottom of the oven to catch any drips (hoping to keep the brand new oven clean).
Not realizing that there was a heating element in the bottom of the oven, the foil melted.
I didn't completely believe it, guessing that the melting temperature of aluminum or tin foil (whatever it is actually) would be much higher than an oven.
Apparently this has happened enough that Google auto-completed the rest of my search as I was typing it in.
funny stuff.

Grease fire ? pop a cover on it. Provided the fire is in a pan/pot.

Well yeah, thats what you SHOULD do, but I never took Home Ec.

I figure if no one got hurt and the building is still standing we did alright. I was just out a frying pan and apparently the guy downstairs lost some sleep. I worked nights so I don't know for sure but my wife said he would start yelling about something while she was trying to concentrate on FarmVille.

2 fire extinguishers in the kitchen, one in the machine shop, and a bunch in the garage, both near the front to run back to put something out, and big ones in the back so I can get out if all is lost - 2 of which are huge C02 units.

And one of those pressurized water ones nearby whenever I'm sweating copper pipes. Seeing our neighbor's house burn to the ground when I was about 6 made an impression on me.

If you can still find them, Halon fire extinguishers are the best thing in the whole damn world.

I've hoarded them when I find them at swap meets still full.

No mess, no powder, no water and a hell of a lot more effective than Co2 at putting out a fire.

They eat the ozone layer so they got banned for everything but big electronic installs. Apparently one fridge does way more environmental damage than a whole bumch of these but the greenies got them banned anyway.

Look for the blue fire extinguisher. Remember to get the hell out of the building after because the fumes are toxic once the chemical is exposed to fire.

That said, nothing puts out a fire faster than a halon extinguisher.

I've assisted frying a turkey before, dry it off, bring the oil to correct temp, lower it in, keep an eye on the oil temp till its done. I couldn't figure out how people managed to screw it up. Then I remembered people are stupid, and on thanksgiving often in groups, and drinking, both of which lead to an exponential increase in stupidity.

In reply to Woody:

Do you get many calls for ovens that won't shut off w/ electronic controls?

We had one electronic controlled that went balls to the wall during baking as if in self clean mode and wouldn't shut down, only threw a fault code. Had to think on yur feet and switch the breaker off. Wonder how many common folk ended up calling the FD.

About a decade ago, I was renting a duplex in Lexington. One night, I decided to make some eggrolls, so I put a pot of oil on the stove. I had made the eggrolls from scratch the night before so all I had to do was get them out of the fridge, assemble my utensils, and wait for the oil to get to temp. Being the ADD type, I thought that while I was waiting, I would go down the hall to my office and check in on the computer game I was playing. (In full looserdom disclosure, it was everquest).

Some amount of time passed, and to this day, I couldn't tell you how long. It really didn't seem like that long, but when I got to the kitchen, there was a nice little bonfire going on the stovetop and the kitchen was quickly filling with smoke. It sounds cliche or like something you'd see on a cartoon, but honestly my first reaction was to think "why aren't my smoke detectors going off?" About five seconds later, they must have realized that I caught them napping and the house was filled with beeping to go along with the smoke.

My first instinct was to get my fire extinguisher, but that was the exact moment that I remembered that I forgot to move it with me out of my last place. Next up was to put the lid on it, but the lid was on the other side of the fire. By this time, the cabinets were starting to burn, and the paper towel holder had a flaming roll of Bounty going on. The fire was happening directly below the cabinet that housed all of my booze, so I was a bit worried that the 151 could cause problems so I did what anyone would do. The front door was right next to the kitchen doorway -- it opened directly into the living room, and the kitchen entryway was right there too. So, I opened up the door, ran into the kitchen, grabbed the flaming pot, ran back to the front door...

And then ran right into the storm door that I had forgotten to open. Flaming oil spilled all over me, the carpet, the wall, the curtain, and the couch. I kicked the door open and placed the fire that I had left in my pot in the front yard and then went in for more. I grabbed the flaming roll of paper towels and tossed that out there with the pot -- remembering to open the storm door this time. Then I grabbed a blanket and put out the curtains, couch, carpet, and the miscellaneous things still burning on the countertop. I think the blanket caught on fire too, so I threw it out there on the pile.

The fire was contained, but I thought it was a good idea to call the fire department, mainly because I shared a wall with someone else and I was afraid that if anything was still smoldering in the walls or anything, I might wind up killing someone. When 911 answered, I told them that I had a small kitchen fire, it was totally contained, but if they could just -- no hurry! -- send out a guy to take a look-see and make sure, I'd appreciate it.

About three or five minutes later, they showed up with freaking everything. I don't know if it was a slow night or if it's just protocol or what, but they had the guy in the Crown Vic, the "salvage van", two super-sized ladder trucks, and an ambulance. The EMTs took me into the amberlamps to check me out and I watched this swarm of firefighters run into my home with axes, fans, and all the toys. Yikes. Next thing I know, they were carrying out my kitchen one cabinet at a time.

When it was all done, they had pulled out four or five cabinets and put a boss hole in the wall. I had enough burn damage to my hand that it took me about five or six years to regain all the feeling in my right hand. I didn't really catch on to the seriousness of the situation until the ER told me to follow up with a plastic surgeon. I kept the burnt couch for a while and finally gave it to my brother, but his dog ate it, so it's gone now.

I was vindicated about two years ago though: I had a plate of bacon that I took out of the microwave and put on the stove. Turns out I had also turned on the wrong burner which was where the plate was. It popped and the bacon grease soaked paper towels caught fire. Since I had practiced it before, I was able to ensure that the door was open, double checked for the presence of a storm door, and not finding one, successfully carried the flaming bacon plate out to the back yard. So there's that.

But, seriously, be careful. That burn was the most excruciating pain I've ever been in my whole life. Other than narcotic pain pills, there was absolutely no dulling it.

Trans_Maro wrote: If you can still find them, Halon fire extinguishers are the best thing in the whole damn world. I've hoarded them when I find them at swap meets still full. No mess, no powder, no water and a hell of a lot more effective than Co2 at putting out a fire. They eat the ozone layer so they got banned for everything but big electronic installs. Apparently one fridge does way more environmental damage than a whole bumch of these but the greenies got them banned anyway. Look for the blue fire extinguisher. Remember to get the hell out of the building after because the fumes are toxic once the chemical is exposed to fire. That said, nothing puts out a fire faster than a halon extinguisher.

I thought you could still get Halon for race car stuff?

Timely post. I had a minor oven fire tonight. The first I can recall having, actually.

I was baking some focaccia-based bread for tomorrow, and a couple of the pans overflowed a little more olive oil than I was expecting - and I was expecting some overflow, so I put some foil on the lower rack to keep it off the oven floor. Well, it quickly overcame the foil and started dripping on the floor, where it comingled with about three years worth of various drippings and ignited.

I shut off the flame (gas oven), carefully opened the door to retrieve the bread before it soaked up that acrid burnt oil aroma, and folded up the flaming piece of foil with some tongs to quell the flames. The fire in the oven floor went out soon after.

Of course, then I got to scrub the oven floor once it has cooled down, since I had loaves of parbaked bread to finish off. On the plus side, I don't think our oven has been this clean since we bought the place a few years ago.

In reply to z31maniac:

I believe you can, it's just the portables that have been banned.

mtn wrote: How do you cook frozen pizza if you only use your oven once a year?

i have one of these... it's the E36 M3:

if you are really bored and/or easily amused, you can watch the pizza cook as it spins around... you know it's done when you see the cheese turn brown just as it comes out from under the heating element..

it's also pretty awesome with frozen burritos- as long as you defrost them in the microwave for about 30 seconds... fish sticks are also good off it, but the flavor will pollute the next 5 pizzas you do on it..

Guys, seriously, I can't believe how many of you don't know the "put a lid on it" drill for the kitchen.

Ditto for the baking soda (that's all most dry-chemical extinguishers are, baking soda with some extra stuff).

I'm the only guy in my family who ISN'T a firefighter, my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my dad, everyone but me.

I had it drilled into my head when I was just a little kid.

Kitchen fire = put a lid on the pot. If you can't do that, smother it with baking soda.

Never use water on a grease fire, it will spread it out.

Never try to carry the pot outside.

Chimney fire = throw a bucket of water on the fire, the steam will go up the chimney and choke out the flames.

Fire extinguishers, one in the kitchen, one in a closet, at least two on each floor of the house. Here's the drill:

Pull pin.

Aim at base of flames, not at the top.

Sweep side-to-side until the fire is out.

Smoke detectors in each bedroom, in the kitchen and in the hallway.

If you have kids (or even adults) bedrooms on the second floor, buy an escape ladder for each room and show the kids how to use it.

Show them how to stuff towels and clothes at the bottom of the door to help keep the smoke out, then go out the window.

Show them to feel if the door is hot before they open it.

Remember, smoke inhalation kills more people than burns do and modern houses and furniture burn much dirtier than older stuff due to more chemicals and plastics.

Make sure your family has an escape plan to get out of the house in the event of fire and have a spot that you will all meet up at outside the house.

This is all easy stuff that you should teach your kids, it could save some lives one day.

House fires can be terrible and I've heard plenty of horror stories over family dinners.

fasted58 wrote: In reply to Woody: Do you get many calls for ovens that won't shut off w/ electronic controls? We had one electronic controlled that went balls to the wall during baking as if in self clean mode and wouldn't shut down, only threw a fault code. Had to think on yur feet and switch the breaker off. Wonder how many common folk ended up calling the FD.

happened to my mom a few years ago... the oven was maybe 5 years old... she was baking brownies and heard a "click", then a couple of minutes later the smoke started rolling out... she panicked and ran around like a fool... her fiance came in from outside to see what the black smoke coming out of every window in the house was and ran downstairs to shut the breaker off...

she never trusted that oven again, and hates the new one that replaced it- it's always 50 degrees off... sometimes hot, sometimes cold... parts have been replaced under warranty, but it still varies... she just wants a simple one like she had 20 years ago that was just some dumb knobs and spiral cooking elements, but they don't make them like that any more.

novaderrik wrote: she just wants a simple one like she had 20 years ago that was just some dumb knobs and spiral cooking elements, but they don't make them like that any more.

bingo

Not sure if it's the same on gas ovens, as I believe they are vented more than electrics.

With a baking fire, a fire inside the oven, don't open it up to check on it! Turn off the oven and it more than likely go out on it's own. Opening the door feeds oxygen to the fire.

Also, if you drip onto the heating element (like I did re-heating pizza bare on the rack. . . I like a krisp crust. . . ), clean it off as soon as it cools. Next day I'm baking and catch a bright white light out of the corner of my eye, look in the window and the element starts glowing an increasingly brighter orange and there's a small fire. I shut it down, waited and opened it up. . . the element broke right where the cheese dripped on it. When I told the counter guy at the electrical supply store that I needed a new element and that the old one seemed to "plasma torch" itself in a successful suicide attempt, he asked without knowing the story, "Dripped cheese on it?"

In reply to wae:

That's usually protocol. Partly due to insurance fraud and arson. You don't want someone who is trying to burn a place down to be able to cancel the response. Also, time is a big deal when stuff starts burning. You don't want to be waiting for backup.

fasted58 wrote: In reply to Woody: Do you get many calls for ovens that won't shut off w/ electronic controls? We had one electronic controlled that went balls to the wall during baking as if in self clean mode and wouldn't shut down, only threw a fault code. Had to think on yur feet and switch the breaker off. Wonder how many common folk ended up calling the FD.

I only remember one of those, though we get bunch of calls from people who panic because they don't understand how the self cleaning oven works. They freak out when they see the smoke coming out and can't open the door.

When we can, we usually just disconnect the appliance and carry it out to the back yard.

Off to work...Happy Thanksgiving everyone.