Skip to main content

Cooking Fire Safety

A man prepares and serves spaghetti with sauce, surrounded by ingredients and cooking utensils in a kitchen setting with a stove in the background.

Cooking can be relaxing and fun, bringing family and friends together. Cooking is also the number one cause of home fires and home injuries. Being mindful while you cook can go a long way to helping prevent these fires.

Cooking Fire Safety Facts

  • Unattended cooking is the leading factor in home cooking fires.
  • Ranges accounted for the largest share of home cooking fire incidents.
  • Frying poses the greatest risk of fire.
  • Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires.
  • Two-thirds of home cooking fires started when food or other cooking materials caught fire.

Cooking Fire Safety Tips

  • Be on alert! If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol, don’t use the stove or stovetop.
  • If you are simmering, baking, or roasting food, check it regularly.
  • Remain in the kitchen while food is cooking. 
  • Use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
  • Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels, or curtains — away from your stovetop. Wear short sleeves or tight-fitting sleeves on your clothes.

Downloadable Resources

Watch More Videos 

Quick Tips to Share

Share these graphics with your family and friends! We encourage you to print these and also share on social media.

An infographic promoting kitchen fire prevention, with safety tips like staying in the kitchen while cooking and using a timer.
An infographic urging kitchen fire prevention, citing stats like 189,300 fires, 170 deaths, 3,300 injuries, and $443 million in losses.
A safety message advising to stay in the kitchen while cooking to prevent fires, with a graphic of a person cooking.
An illustrated safety message in Spanish advising to stay in the kitchen while cooking to prevent fires, with logos of FEMA and others.
Spanish Infographic about cooking safety
A safety message about keeping flammable items away from the stovetop, with kitchen illustration and logos for FEMA and U.S. Fire Administration.
Graphic advising to keep pot handles turned in to prevent spills and burns.
Safety message in Spanish recommending turning pot handles away from the front of the stove to prevent spills and burns.
A safety graphic with advice on preventing kitchen fires by regularly checking simmering, baking, or roasting food, using a timer.
An illustration with a safety message in Spanish about checking food when cooking to prevent fires. It includes a timer reminder.
A safety graphic showing a person looking at an oven fire, with Spanish text advising to turn off the oven and keep it closed.
Graphic with safety instructions for an oven fire: turn it off and keep the door closed.
Safety message: "Only use your grill outside," with a grill positioned safely away from a house.
A safety message about only using a grill outdoors, away from roof edges, exterior siding, deck railings, and tree branches.
Safety poster advising a 3-foot kid-free zone around a grill to prevent fires and burns.
An infographic promoting kitchen fire prevention, with safety tips like staying in the kitchen while cooking and using a timer.
An infographic urging kitchen fire prevention, citing stats like 189,300 fires, 170 deaths, 3,300 injuries, and $443 million in losses.
A safety message advising to stay in the kitchen while cooking to prevent fires, with a graphic of a person cooking.
An illustrated safety message in Spanish advising to stay in the kitchen while cooking to prevent fires, with logos of FEMA and others.
Spanish Infographic about cooking safety
A safety message about keeping flammable items away from the stovetop, with kitchen illustration and logos for FEMA and U.S. Fire Administration.
Graphic advising to keep pot handles turned in to prevent spills and burns.
Safety message in Spanish recommending turning pot handles away from the front of the stove to prevent spills and burns.
A safety graphic with advice on preventing kitchen fires by regularly checking simmering, baking, or roasting food, using a timer.
An illustration with a safety message in Spanish about checking food when cooking to prevent fires. It includes a timer reminder.
A safety graphic showing a person looking at an oven fire, with Spanish text advising to turn off the oven and keep it closed.
Graphic with safety instructions for an oven fire: turn it off and keep the door closed.
Safety message: "Only use your grill outside," with a grill positioned safely away from a house.
A safety message about only using a grill outdoors, away from roof edges, exterior siding, deck railings, and tree branches.
Safety poster advising a 3-foot kid-free zone around a grill to prevent fires and burns.

Source for Content: National Fire Protection Association and U.S. Fire Administration.