# In which I successfully put out a kitchen fire (long).

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-successfully-put-out-a-kitchen-fire-long/511582>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 25, 2009, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-successfully-put-out-a-kitchen-fire-long/511582 "2009-09-25T22:01:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-successfully-put-out-a-kitchen-fire-long/511582/41 "2009-11-06T18:03:46Z")

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i think smothering or otherwise extinguishing a grease fire is good.

i think carrying it outside is bad. your clothes and hair could easily catch on fire. you could spill hot grease on yourself. you could spill it spreading flaming grease onto parts of your house.

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**Author:** ![UncleNito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/7cd45c/32.png) [@UncleNito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleNito)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-successfully-put-out-a-kitchen-fire-long/511582/42 "2009-11-06T18:31:15Z")

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> [@johnpost](#):
>
> i think carrying it outside is bad. your clothes and hair could easily catch on fire. you could spill hot grease on yourself. you could spill it spreading flaming grease onto parts of your house.

Seconded. One thing I remember from all my fire-safety and emergency training as a Boy Scout.

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**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-successfully-put-out-a-kitchen-fire-long/511582/43 "2009-11-06T18:56:26Z")

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> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#):
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> IIRC, you actually want to turn exhaust fans OFF until the fire is extinguished, or they can actually spread the fire further.

My microwave’s exhaust fan turns on automatically if the bottom gets too hot. Presumably this is to avoid a fire starting in the first place. Once a fire is started, yeah, probably a bad idea.

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**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\
**Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-which-i-successfully-put-out-a-kitchen-fire-long/511582/44 "2009-11-06T19:30:43Z")

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> [@johnpost](#):
>
> i think carrying it outside is bad. your clothes and hair could easily catch on fire. you could spill hot grease on yourself. you could spill it spreading flaming grease onto parts of your house.

I don’t disagree, but in my case I didn’t really have any other option. The lid wasn’t really fitting tightly enough to suffocate it and I couldn’t find anything in the kitchen to throw on it. Fortunately, it was a small, stable pot, so not a huge risk of tipping it or spilling burning oil on anything.

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