Be on the alert! If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol, don't use the stove or stovetop. Read all of NFPA's cooking safety tips and download our free safety tip sheet.
AUDIO Lorraine Carli, NFPA Vice President of Communications, talks about cooking safety:
In 2010, cooking was involved in an estimated 156,400 home structure fires that were reported to U.S. fire departments. These fires caused 420 deaths, 5,310 injuries and $993 million in direct property damage. Cooking caused 44% of reported home fires, 16% of home fire deaths, 40% of home fire injuries, and 15% of the direct property damage in 2010. Source:NFPA's latest estimates of Home Cooking Fires - 2010 (PDF, 131 KB)
Video: Just a few simple safety tips can protect you and your family from a potentially devastating home fire.
Facts & figures
Based on 2006-2010 annual averages:
Unattended cooking was by far the leading contributing factor in these fires.
Two-thirds (67%) of home cooking fires started with the ignition of food or other cooking materials.
Clothing was the item first ignited in less than 1% of these fires, but these incidents accounted for 16% of the cooking fire deaths.
Ranges accounted for the largest share (58%) of home cooking fire incidents. Ovens accounted for 16%.
Three of every five (57%) reported non-fatal home cooking fire injuries occurred when the victims tried to fight the fire themselves.
Frying poses the greatest risk of fire.
Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires.