Cooking Fire Safety

Cooking is, by far, the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries.

In 2021, fire departments in the United States responded to an estimated 170,000 home cooking fires. These fires caused an estimated 135 deaths, 3,000 injuries and over $494 million in property loss.

Did you know:

The leading factor contributing to ignition in nonconfined home cooking fires was unattended equipment (37%).

More home cooking fire statistics

Teach community members to cook safely by giving them information about cooking fire risks and how to prevent cooking fires.

Messages to share

Click to copy message.

Stand by your pan. If you leave the kitchen, turn the burner off.

Watch what you are cooking. Fires start when the heat is too high. If you see any smoke or the grease starts to boil, turn the burner off.

Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove so that no one can bump them or pull them over.

Keep a pan lid or baking sheet nearby. Use it to cover the pan if it catches on fire. This will put out the fire.

Social media graphics and stock photos

social media card: keep anything that can catch fire away from your stovetop

Pictographs

Pictographs can help overcome literacy barriers by communicating messages with pictures. Our pictographs will help you to communicate cooking fire safety messages to high-risk populations.