Cooking is the number one cause of home fires. To avoid such fires, you should endeavour to keep all your appliances clean, and wipe surfaces after spills. You should also clean stove surfaces and ovens regularly. In addition to this measure, you should wear tight-fitting sleeves, or roll them up when cooking.

All flammable objects, including pot holders, dish towels and curtains should be held at least three feet away from the stove. Ensure that wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and all other solid-fueled heating equipment are regularly inspected by a professional and cleaned accordingly.

For those who make use of microwaves, they must ensure that such equipment have enough room to breathe. Similarly, all the vents should be cleared of obstructions. Assuming there is a microwave fire, you should keep the door closed and unplug the microwave.

The microwave oven must be serviced before being reused. In case of an oven fire, you should keep the door closed and turn off the heat. If the fire doesn’t go out immediately, call the fire service in your area.

A grease fire would occur when oil or greasy foods are heated and ignite. The simplest way to fight a grease fire is to carefully slide a lid over the pan. Turn off the burner, don’t move the pan, and keep the lid on until the pan cools completely. Baking Soda may also be used to suffocate the fire.

On no condition should you use water to put off grease fire because water causes the grease to splatter and the fire to spread. Similarly, you must never attempt to take a grease fire outdoors because it will be too hot to carry and you will drop it, causing a major house fire.