Grease fire in the kitchen: the 5 seconds that decide everything

Cooking is the number one cause of home fires in the United States and Canada. Most of those fires start in a pan, and most of them are small enough to stop — if the first reaction is the right one.

Never throw water on burning oil. Water instantly turns to steam and blasts burning grease across the kitchen, turning a pan fire into a room fire. Never carry the pan to the sink either: the airflow feeds the flames and you risk spilling burning oil on yourself.

The correct sequence is simple. Turn off the heat. Cover the pan to cut off oxygen. Keep it covered until it is completely cool. A fire blanket does that in one motion — pull the tabs, hold it in front of you as a shield, and lay it over the flames.

Keep your blanket within two steps of the stove, not in a drawer across the room. Fire doubles in size roughly every thirty seconds; distance is the one thing you cannot buy back.