6:57 PM: Busy, busy day/night for firefighters. Now a single-family-residence fire call in the 6500 block of Sylvan Way (map). We’re en route. 7:04 PM: First crews arriving suspected “food on stove,” per scanner – at the scene, we’re trying to verify; definitely not a big fire, but lots of smoke being ventilated right now. Also note that Sylvan Way eastbound is blocked at the moment. 7:08 PM: Verified – food fire. Should be wrapped up shortly.
As with most kitchen fires, this one probably was caused by an unattended stove burner. It’s beyond me why stove manufacturers don’t bother to build in shut-off timers for the cooktops as well as the ovens (or microwave cycles).
Alvis, how would you feel if your stove top turned off while you were making soup which simmers for hours. Logic here is to focus on the task at hand. Multi tasking is not for everyone
Beg to differ, Norma. The logic of the task at hand is to set the timer so a burner stays on until you want it to turn off. If your stove top turned off while you were making soup which simmers for hours, my feeling would be that you set the timer to turn off the heat before the soup was done simmering.
After having a kid I found I regularly have to set the timer to beep when something is cooking (or heating up a pan), even for things I don’t normally time. So easy to get distracted when the kid comes in and demands attention, or even just turning around to prep something else for dinner. All of a sudden you smell smoke and burning butter.
I don’t have a gas stove but I imagine things would get much more interesting cooking with flame in the first place.
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