2A: Do not rest anything inflammable, such as library books, on the counter next to the stove.
2B: Do not rest anything else, such as plates, on the stove.
2C, the most important part: Do not store enticing goodies, such as cheddar-cheese flavored Pirate's Booty, in the cupboards above the stove.
I violated all these rules this afternoon, the first two "just for a minute" while I started straightening up the kitchen. Hambet did not care to wait for dinner, so he pushed a chair over and began to climb up to retrieve the Pirate's Booty. I saw what he was after and got him down off the counter. What I didn't notice was that in his ascent, he had pushed the library book and some other things onto the stove to get them out of his way. I also didn't notice that at some point he had kicked the burner knob on.
Hambet did notice the little plume of smoke rising from the stove. "What's that?" he asked. I looked up, and sure enough, there was the burner on and the library book catching fire. Turned off the burner, moved the book, moved the plate that was too close to the burner, heard the plate go "crack", sighed, and looked over the book. Part of the dust jacket is totally gone, and part of the front cover is charred. The edges of the pages are also a little singed. We'll head over to the library next week to face the music. At least it's a book I won't mind owning, even with a fire-scarred cover. (It's one of those "Jack Aubrey's Navy" type companion books to the O'Brian series.)
Oh well, it's just a material thing, and a relatively inexpensive thing at that. Thank you, Guardian Angel, for calling our attention to the fire before it got big. I also think I might start removing the knobs from the stove and storing them separately until this latest wave of climbing is over.
(By the way, Part 1, "keep an eye on your pot full of olive oil," was here. Do not miss the catechesis on fire extinguishers from our dear commenter Mr Franklin Jennings.)
after a very minor episode last summer (read: at least it didn't set off the smoke alarms) ... i'm hyper-diligent about keeping two boxes of baking soda in the fridge right next to the stove. it's great for putting our little accidents on the stove -- and it keeps your milk tasting fresh, t'boot!
Hi, I'm new to your blog and I really enjoy it. I have to add one more to you fire safety rules. Do not reach over three burning advent candles to light the fourth while wearing a fuzzy sweater!! At least not unless you want you children to forever tell the story of the time Mommy "stopped, dropped and rolled."
Beth -- thanks so much! Looking forward to seeing you in the comments boxes! Yes, that is an important fire safety rule. That would be quite a Christmas memory. Thank God it stayed a funny one.
Smock -- that's a good idea. I actually found a tiny kitchen fire extinguisher but I still need to actually mount it on the wall someplace. As I'm writing this, I just remembered that Hambet is a little too interested in fire extinguishers. Maybe I should just do the can of baking soda and take the fire extinguisher back to the store before I find Hambet standing in a heap of foam.
I'm glad the Mosses and their Mansion are okay... there was a fire that looked like it started in the kitchen, and destroyed the house *while the residents were out* across the street from us. If it can happen when you're not even cooking (presuming they hadn't let anything in a crockpot) I really need to improve my fire safety knowledge and preparedness. The can of baking soda sounds good, we have a fire extinguisher but I'm intimidated by the thought of it.
2D: Do not put plastic cutting board on a burner, especially if you are (or have) a husband with the tendancy to turn on the wrong burner...
And watch where you set your hotpads when you move into a house with a gas stove (which you've never had before). Ask me how I know this.
Oh, and the other thing? Don't try to burn up last year's palm crosses in your kitchen, thinking that they won't flame up. They do. And burning palms STINK!
I'm still tryin to figure out if "dear commenter" is some sort of sarcasm ;-)