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Thursday, December 03, 2009

a little bit too much excitement for my liking

'Anything for a story,' I usually say. I love a bit of a drama and never fail to warm to the thrall of people hanging off my every word. Cecily is my name, attention seeking my game, and if I have to ham it up a little for effect, so be it.

This story will not be like that. It is sufficiently exciting on its own that it does not require any embellishment. In fact, for several moments tonight I felt fear, the whole thing was so real and potentially terrible.

It all started with slivered almonds. Or was it the busy evening that did it? I came home from work early enough, but had two events to attend one after the other, starting at 6:30pm. We haven't been eating until 7:30 or later due to the lovely, light evenings, so I was gearing up for an early, quick meal before running out the door. I opted for an easy asian-style chicken salad and was pretty pleased to discover I had slivered almonds after all and could garnish to my heart's content. I sprinkled them onto a tray, added a few sesame seeds to the mix and threw them under the gas grill.

'Don't forget the grill,' I muttered to myself. (I'm always burning nuts and seeds under that thing, but it's so much easier than stirring them all in a dry pan) Of course, I immediately forgot them and sailed out into the next room. I was engrossed in another activity when I heard a bit of a popping and creaking sound...

THE GRILL!

Running into the kitchen, I was confronted by the tray and its contents, which were well alight. We're talking serious flames fuelled by gas. Eek. 'It's on fire,' I yelled and ran over to turn off the gas.

Nothing happened, so I closed the grill door to cut off oxygen, only to discover a whopping great gap in the seal. That made not a zot of difference.

By that stage Frank had run in and collected the fire extinguisher from under the sink. For some strange reason he ran into the next room to pull the pin out, by which time black smoke was pouring out of the stove and rolling up the walls. At about that moment I realised there was still a gas burner on, merrily cooking two chicken fillets. As I turned them off and began to wonder if this could turn into something very, very bad (do gas stoves and cylinders explode when fire is happening right by them?), Frank ran in, pointed the extinguisher at the base of the flame (ha... that is the correct technique of course, but who would know where he really pointed it) and sprayed.

Incredibly, the fire stopped instantly. Maybe I expected it would die back slowly and whimper a bit before going out, but it was over, just like that. Phew!

Being the blogging queen I am (OK, that was an embellishment), I immediately ran for my camera (strange, sad truth is contained in those words) and collected an image of the smoking mess for posterity:



I may also have invented a new technique in art:



Even with a relatively small fire the clean up was significant. We've vacuumed the dust, wiped smoke off walls and aired the house, but the smell still lingers and I keep finding tiny bits of ash on surfaces all over the place. I suspect the cleaning will continue for some time.

There was one other small issue - what to do with the chicken. I had my heart pretty well set on asian-style chicken, and that's hard to do without chicken. The slivered almonds and sesame seeds were lost. Could I get by without the chicken... and is it OK to eat food that has experienced a little, ah, dry powder extinguisher contamination?

We tried to phone the firies, but without resorting to 000 (which was now completely unnecessary, unless they offer a cleaning service, which I'm pretty sure they don't), no one would answer the phone outside of business hours. Next we called a friend of a friend who works as a fireman. No reply. Google 'what chemicals are in dry powder fire extinguishers': not very useful information. 'centrimax 70' was next and, bingo, most of the powders used in fire extinguishers are fairly innocuous. The powder used in ours was mostly likely mono ammonium phosphate, a fairly harmless chemical approved as a food additive. So we ate the chicken. As simple as that.

Perhaps I should call this post 'how not to cook tea'? One thing is for sure, I'll be getting that extinguisher refilled quick smart, buying a fire blanket just in case, and replacing the battery in the smoke detector. A little too close for comfort that one!

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7 Comments:

At 11:23 pm, December 03, 2009, Anonymous 2paw said...

OK, that is way too much excitement, but your dedication to your blog is commendable!! I had a fire in my kitchen a few years ago when my coat turned a hot plate on. Don't ask!! You were so lucky. I have a fire blanket because I think it is easier to work than an extinguisher. Glad you are well and safe and fed!!!

 
At 2:48 pm, December 05, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

oh my! that is a lot of excitment!
we have had several same experiences worst being the 4yo trying to reach for biscuits on back of stove and turning it on melting my remote control for car and signing my keys in the process causing black smoke everywhere. BLARGH!!

glad to her you ended up all safe though with minimal damage!!

 
At 8:18 am, December 07, 2009, Blogger Cherie said...

I wonder...if Frank hadn't run to fetch the extinguisher and then spray it....would you have pulled out your camera to snap the smoke and flames for us?

I. Just. Wonder.

LOVE the seed art. You may have stumbled upon something there.

Seriously, I'm glad you guys and your home are okay.

 
At 7:49 pm, December 16, 2009, Anonymous jonny said...

I had a fire in my kitchen a few years ago when my coat turned a hot plate on. Don't ask!! You were so lucky. I have a fire blanket because I think it is easier to work than an extinguisher.

 
At 7:15 pm, January 23, 2010, Anonymous StorageCraft said...

Even my experience with was not great. I was alone in my home at the age of 16 when there was a blast in my kitchen. It was my neighbors who helped me get out of it.

 
At 2:54 am, February 08, 2010, Anonymous MessageForce said...

I really get apprehended when i think of that incident which happened around ten years back when i was stuck in the kitchen fire and my cousin was trying hard to save me which at last lead him into severe fire burns leaving me safe.

 
At 5:40 am, February 11, 2010, Anonymous Shawn mitchell said...

Since i had faced the incident of kitchen fire i have become more cautious about it. Now i have all the latest equipments equipped in my house to control the fire in the future.

 

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