ARE YOUR FIRE EXTINGUISHERS READY IF YOU NEED THEM?

A resident of Forest Grove's Historic Old Town can call herself pretty fortunate this afternoon, all things considered of course, as she was luckily able to control a fire on her stove top and keep it from engulfing the rest of the kitchen. The women was cleaning the kitchen of the home in the 2100 block of 16th Avenue earlier today when she apparently bumped the dial on the electric range, turning on one of the stove's burners. Just before 2:30 pm she began to smell smoke and discovered that a pan of cooking oil that had been on the stove top had caught fire, she quickly grabbed a nearby fire extinguisher and squeezed the trigger and nothing happened. She ran to grab a second fire extinguisher and again squeezed the trigger and again nothing happened, both fire extinguishers were dead and not able to function. She poured a box of bulk table salt onto the flames and then grabbed the pan lid and was finally able to get the fire out.

When firefighters arrived they found light smoke coming from the open front door and that the smoke had filled up the first floor of the two story home. Crews went in to make sure the fire was out and found that the damage was confined to the cook top and the stairs and walls that were on both sides of the electric range. Fire Investigators believe that the actual damage to the home is less than $3,000 and mostly from the smoke damage, but it could have been much worse. Please take a second and find the fire extinguishers in your home. Make sure they are inspected regularly and that the gauge shows that they are charged. If it's an older extinguisher you should replace it, and if you don't have a fire extinguisher now would be a good time to invest in one. Home remedies like salt and baking soda may work to extinguish a fire sometimes, but they'll never beat a tight fitting lid and a good ABC rated fire extinguisher. The key is that the fire extinguishers must be ready to work when you need them to.


If you do encounter a fire on the cook top follow these simple steps. Use an oven mitt to slide a tight fitting lid on top of the pan that is on fire. Never use water on a grease fire, or try and carry a burning pan from the cook top. If the fire is bigger than the pan you could try and quickly use a fire extinguisher to put out the fire, but don't risk your personal safety to do so. Turn off the burner if you can, and execute your family fire escape plan. Call 9-1-1 from a safe location outside the home and let firefighters make sure that the fire is out. Make sure that everyone in your family who cooks knows how to do it safely!