Good Friday morning to all! Matt is off work today and we slept in until 11:00, and decided to make a healthy breakfast before starting our four day weekend due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I put some turkey bacon on a Baker's Secret baking sheet and slipped it in the oven while I put together a delicious egg mixture in a large skillet on the stove. I chopped up some onion, green pepper, salami, and ham and mixed everything together with five eggs and some cheese. I checked on the turkey bacon, flipped each one over, and returned the baking sheet to the oven which was set to broil on high. Matt made coffee and did some dishes while I stirred the eggs. The next time I opened the oven, our bacon started to look burnt on one side of the sheet so I grabbed the oven mitt to remove the bacon and when I looked back in the oven our healthy turkey bacon was on fire.
This was not just smoke and heat but actual flames, real fire rising in my oven. I turned to Matt who was playing on his laptop at this point and said, "the oven is on FIRE!" He didn't seem to be worried, I wondered if he even looked at what I was talking about. I left the oven door open, removed the skillet from the stove and turned off both the stove top and oven. The fire grew, the smoke detectors went off in three rooms, we opened all the windows, and the fire still grew. I shouted over the beeping smoke detectors, "What do we do?" Matt grabs my vase which is sitting right next to the sink and just as he is about to remove the flowers, I see one thing happening...he throws water on the grease fire and we blow up! I shouted, "NOOOOO! It's a grease fire, we need a fire extinguisher!" He looks around the house while I start looking for the number to the fire department (it's not 911 here) and then he looks in the hallway (no fire extinguisher), knocks on our neighbors door and asks them if they have one. By now the fire has started to weaken and I begin to calm down enough to think about all the useful items we could have thrown on the fire, such as baking soda. With the fire out and our oven completely unresponsive and covered in soot, we begin fighting with three smoke detectors that will not stop beeping. I'm waving a sweatshirt around like a crazy person and Matt is pulling them out of the ceiling and unplugging them.
I cannot believe I caught turkey bacon on fire in my oven! I have a feeling it was due to the fact that the baking sheet I was using was burnt. The last time I used it I accidently put it on top of the stove while a burner was still on low and left it there for about half an hour. It never even started smelling and I thought it would be fine even though it was brown on both sides. If that wasn't it, I guess I just don't know the strength of this new oven! Needless to say, the next time I try to cook turkey bacon, it will be in the microwave!
How to Stop an Oven Fire
Stovetop Fires:
1. Turn off the burner. This will remove the energy behind the fire.
2. Put on an oven mitt or tightly wrap your arm with a kitchen towel to protect you from the fire.
3. Place a lid or cookie sheet on the fire. This will remove the oxygen supply and help smother the fire on your stovetop.
4. Smother any grease or oil fires with a large amount of baking soda or salt.
5. Get everyone out of your home immediately.
6. Call 9-1-1 if you cannot put out the fire.
Oven Fires:
1. Close the oven door to cut off the oxygen supply.
2. Turn off the oven.
3. Leave the house immediately.
4. Call 9-1-1 if you cannot put out the fire.
Safe cooking,
Mandy
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