Monday, February 25, 2008

PSA Monday

Via Aunt Kathryn comes a chilling YouTube PSA about kitchen safety. I come from a long, long line of firefighters, and I never thought to use a wet dishtowel on a fire. I always figured I'd use baking soda or the pan lid if I had a kitchen fire.



Actually, I have had several minor kitchen fires, although thankfully none of them have involved grease. Did you know that spaghetti, when dry, burns like crazy? Yeah, neither did I, until some of it spilled out of the box and onto the burner. And if you use Minute Rice to make a rice bag, rather than regular rice, it starts a lovely microwave fire. And back when I was a bad kid and smoked, I set my hair on fire once in Amanda's car.

Really, for someone who comes from a long line of firemen, I've had more than my share of minor fires.

Here's the rest of the text from Kathryn's e-mail, which contains more helpful info:

I never realized that a wet dishcloth can be a one size fits all lid to cover a fire in a pan! At the Fire Fighting Training school they would demonstrate this with a deep fat fryer set on the fire field. An instructor would don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup at the end of a 10 foot pole toss water onto the grease fire. The results got the attention of the students.

The water, being heavier than oil, sinks to the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it became a thirty foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast. Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fireball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room.

Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease fire. One cup creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite. This is a powerful message----watch the video and don't forget what you see. Tell your whole family about this video. Or better yet, send this to them.


(or just send them to your friendly neighborhood blog!)

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