House fires.

Since humans discovered the fire (about 500.000 years ago), accidents and problems with it started. Actually some of the most deadliest events happened in houses are directly or inderecty related to flames. Let's see the most common fire causes and how to prevent / extinguish it.

Cooking fires. 

The 44% of fires start in the kitchen, when flames from the stove set fire to oil in the fryingpan. Then, these flames can burn down the kitchen furniture, producing toxic gases and finally burning your house. What can you do if a fryingpan starts to burn? Look what to do and what not:

BAD:

GOOD:

1.- Turn off the gas / heat.

2.- Wet a cloth in the sink.

3.- Wring the cloth, removing the surplus of water.

4.- Spread out the cloth on the fryingpan. The fire will fade in a few seconds.

VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT MOVE THE FRYING PAN, BECAUSE BURNING OIL CAN SPLASH YOU.

Electric fires.

Electric fires usually start when you connect a lot of electrical appliances to the same socket (left). In these cases an electric overload happens; and then the powerstrip starts to burn.

Don't try to put out these kind of fires, because you need a special extinguisher. Simply do not connect too much plugs to the same socket or powerstrip.

Gas heaters and fire places.

If you don't take care, heaters and fireplaces can be very dangerous, because they can set fire to curtains, clothing or furniture, even from distance. The best advise:

DO NOT SET ANY FLAMMABLE ITEM NEXT TO FIRE. KEEP A SAFETY DISTANCE.