It goes even further than that. Oil burns in liquid form at up to 600°C, while water flashfries at those temperatures into steam. Steam, being extremely hot, tiny molecules rip apart the viscous oil molecules, thus increasing the oils' surface area exponentially while still retaining most of the temperature. This gives the oil a much greater exposure to the oxygen in the air, increasing the re-dox reaction of the flame exponentially. Meaning, it billows up, over and out, while still burning. This creates an updraft which helps the oil continue being drawn upwards, increasing the temperature and the burning over a HUGE space. It's effectively a double whammy.
@@D4rknessInc. Opposite. Oil sits on top of water. The hot oil makes the water instantly turn into steam inside the oil, and in turn it carries tiny droplets of oil into the air. The oil then continue to burn while being thrown into the air, creating an explosion far bigger than the initial fire. Putting a lid on the fire instead chokes it, because without oxygen it can't burn
@@D4rknessInc. Fire need air/oxygen. Burning oil in container small contact area with air/oxygen. Water boils, rips oil into the air/oxygen. Oil still burns but now has much more contact with air/oxygen. Boom.
Funily enough this event is called a boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE). Which I like to think you better BLEVE you're going to need to regrow your eyebrows after you cause one.
My neighbor ( I was a teenager in the early 70s), started a grease fire in her kitchen across the street. As a teen farm girl I was well aware of grease fires. I calmly walked into her kitchen while she was freaking out, grabbed a towel and walked the cast iron fry pan outside set it in the grass and went back in and jerked the curtains down and dragged them outside. Then the fire department came and offered me a job (jk). They were happy I was quick witted. I told the lady salt, baking soda or a lid was a good option for grease fires. Edit: When a motorist told me my semi was on fire I calmly turned off the batteries, dragged my fire extinguisher out of its holder went to the front of my day cab looked for the fire (saw it was the starter) and put out the fire. This was my years of school bus driver training taking over. I did it without thought. Training training training. Fire Department came gave me a high five and went on their way.
Had a few grease fires. Once I used baking soda, fire went bye-bye. The others, used either a larger or proper sized lid or that towel to cut the air off from the fiery pan of immolation. Shutting off the heat or moving to a cold burner first, of course.
You sound like me. Instead of looking at a fire and freaking out about it, put it out. I have a panic disorder, though, so I'm freaking out about the fire WHILE putting it out. Lol
@@l.merbecks8144: How do you see this ending? Put down the mouse; back away from the keyboard... Think like a 1st responder: Grease fire/girlfriend? Which is the greater danger/threat? Who/what do we douse 1st? Last words you'll never hear from fire/ems: Stop acting crazy. If she isn't crazy, congratulations, you're the igniter. If she is crazy, you're the oxidizer. And no, you can't smother her, either... Exhibit A: Ex was a hot smoking mess...
The Mythbusters did a very nice episode on this very topic, showing quite nicely why you don't use water to put out grease fires (well, unless you happen to have a helicopter and a bambi bucket). The other fun one from them is the water heater rocket. And that is why you don't tamper with the safety devices on your water heater.
I took some comfort from that episode. It reminded me that if a water heater does explode, you've either seriously screwed up, or you wanted it to explode.
@@Yonkage-ik5qb naw, one really can use one demo block of C4. Pop the blasting cap in, place the charge and deonate, the instant fireball from hell finishes the job far more effectively than trying to dilute the raging oil fire with gasoline.
This was one of the first thing we learned at school, don’t feed the fire, suffocate it! We used to laugh, but now as an adult I wish everyone could remember those lessons. 😳
im kind of glad i grew up in construction with a navy vet dad. Learned the basics of fire safety before i was old enough to drive along with some basic first aid.
I know, right? We had this brought up every year or two in K-12, plus a few times a year in Scouting, and then getting an "adult" job that was government funded would see fire safety rehashed 3-6 times a year.
Lol, love the end, years of training indeed. Reminds me of a story. I went to visit my mom once, and her roommate was cleaning up a mess on the kitchen floor. He told me he had been cooking, and the oil in the frying pan caught fire. He picked it up, and panicking, tried to dump it in the sink. He dropped it on the way, and it flipped upside down, and put itself out when it hit the floor. All I could think to say was 'hey, whatever works man!'
This is why I love having a fire-chief as an uncle. On my cousin's birthday at the ripe old age of 12, he threw a "fire-safety-party" and had fun educating all the kids on how to handle fire. Man lit a barrel of oil on fire and gave us a 3m pole with a saucepan taped to the end and let us have a live demonstration of how to extinguish greese fires and what happens when you're an idiot. It was fun, awesome, terrifying and I will be doing the same exact thing in the future (with representatives from the local department for safety) Saying water expands by a factor of 1600 when turning to steam is one thing, seeing a cup of water turn into a fire-ball the size of your mum is quite a bit more memorable.
I had a great chemistry teacher, he did kinda the same thing during our first year, also about 12. He first played us so we would dare him 'till he couldn't deny us and had no other option but to give in'. I allready knew that was gonna happen cuz apparently all chem teachers do it and was kinda dissapointed he didn't make a fireball strong enough to blow a window pane clean out (as had happened with my older sister). The giant grin on the amenuensis' face was also a bit of a clue... Still, after he didn't have to pretend to not wanna anymore, he left a black mark on the ceiling that was still there 5 years later, so didn't feel to cheated... I still perform once in a while as part of a crew with firestaff, firesword and a huge fuckoff flaming axe, so my son may just be 2 years old, I allready have some things in mind. He's gonna have an awesome 6th birthday :p
I saw this video when it first came out and shortly thereafter made the dumb decision to preheat an oiled pot while cutting the meat. It took longer than I expected to cut the meat, but when the oil caught fire I didn’t hesitate or panic but knew to just put the lid on the pot. All the apartment needed was to get aired out. I just noticed this video and realized I needed to say Thank you!
When I was little my class had a field day at the local firestation. There was a firefighter that told us stories, we got to see the firetrucks and we were taught about fire safety. Not only that, we got to be smoke divers (a fun pretend activity but still). I remember that day and what we learned vividly to this day.
Two of my sisters had an oil fire when cooking popcorn. They both dashed over to the sink, stopped, looked at each other, and simultaneously yelled "No!" before one grabbed the extinguisher and blasted the stove to hell. Thank you to my mom for making us repeatedly watch a grease fire safety video when we were kids.
I learned this at a very young age. About 10 years before I was born, my dad, who was a young newlywed at the time, tried to put out a small grease fire. He didn't use water, and he tried to snuff the fire out, so he was right in that regard. However, he was in a bit of a panic, which was perfectly understandable since my mom, who was pregnant with my older sister, was there. He was wearing just a T-shirt and boxer shorts since it was morning he had just gotten up. A lid wasn't readily available, and in the panic, he grabbed a dish towel to snuff out the fire. Grease got on the towel and caught it on fire he dropped it, and the hot grease towel stuck to his leg. The fire finally got extinguished, but dad had multiple 2nd degree burns, and the scarring is still all over my dad's leg and foot. By the time I was born, there was always a lid and baking soda by the stove , and my sisters and I had been taught this lifesaving piece of advice via my parents' experience and my dad's scar tissue.
Hey buddy, take a look for a fire blanket. They are a glass fibre "cloth" that you can drape over things that are on fire to make them less on fire. Things being pots/pans and in some cases people. Another advantage of them is that you can hold them up as a shield to protect yourself while you drape it over the burning thing which can be an issue if the pan really gets going. They are pretty cheap and last forever (until used at least)
@@Userhandleidk Get a fire blanket. A lot more reliable than salt and it never cakes up into a brick. Also if you get a huge, massive fire you might not have enough salt to cover it.
Same idea: I’ve always been taught to reach for a flat cookie/baking sheet to smother a fire. That or baking soda. Thank you so much for the refresher though, it’s too easy in a panic to mess this up.
Thanks for this comment. I hadn't been taught how to deal with a grease fire before (just that you don't add water to a grease fire) and was thinking that I don't have lids for any of my frying pans and my pots have mostly glass lids (which is not good for fire suppression). I do have a few baking sheets and a pizza pan that certainly will work in this case. We think that it *should* be fairly intuitive, but it's not when no one has taught you. And during an emergency situation, when one is panicking, it's not the time to work out how to do something you haven't been taught. Some will be lucky or clever enough and get it right, but most will hesitate and do something wrong, and in a situation like this, wrong can kill you. The best way is to learn it ahead of time and hope that you will remember it when you need it. A memorable demonstration is extremely helpful and preferable to first hand experience, which is the most effective teacher.
Intially, I had a laugh along with everyone else at the hesitancy of the men. Then it dawned on me that the company didn't train them... at all. My 16 year old works fast food and I will be showing him this when he wakes :) thank you for providing entertainment and education.
Jennifer I’d teach him first aid and what to do for burns too. I’m more worried he doesn’t know that if he didn’t know how to use a fire blanket. How to stop someone choking etc. All very useful in that job.
I've told this story 100 times but when I was 18 I was a supervisor at hardees and was training a new cook how to filter the grease. I told him to just wipe down the sides for a second while I help the cook who just got backed up. While doing it I heard him say "Mr steve" calmly so I said just Steve is fine( without turning around )what's up? He then calmly said Steve... and I turned around to a huge fire reaching up the hoods. He had turned on the gas with his knee accidentally. Still think about his calm Mr Steve once every couple months lol
@@draco4540 Have to be careful with someone who is unbelievably calm in such a situation. Sometimes it's caused by sudden shock. I work in steel fabrication, seen too many seemingly calm responses from newbies, but actually in shock at the sight of something bad.
Lol i did something very similar several years ago. Some humvees in the military have soft doors That don't stay closed very well after a while. So one day we were training which means we don't really drive that fast So one time after doing a post drill we got back in the vehicle and I didn't buckle up; combine that with a faulty door and a driver who likes to f-1 corner the turns i went flying out and through the door. I caught myself with my foot, the doorframe and what was left of the door but i was still hanging all the way out with my butt just above the ground. Anyway, I didn't once panic all I did was say "yo" in a calm voice to get their attention like i was just wanting to say something and Not one of the passengers even looked in my direction 😆, I set it again and still no response So with a still calm voice I said "hey guys i need a hand" (Still Not even addressing that I am halfway outside the vehicle) After that the other rear passenger looked over and saw And he is the one that freaked out for me And told the driver to stop so I could Get back in the vehicle and fix myself. I bet he still thinks about it a few times a month like you do 😆
Once when I was frying french fries at home the oil boiled over into the burners. Luckily I acted on instincts I didn't even knew I had, and I quickly turned the burners off before the oil reached the fire. Thank you Worst Cook in America for showing all of us the best ways to create kitchen fires so the chefs could show us how to put them out. Yay!
one time my cast iron pan got too hot and as I put some oil in it it instantly lit aflame. I picked it up with a towel around the handle and put it outside on concrete, then put the towel over it and it instantly extinguished. I was so proud of myself for thinking and acting as fast as I did.
Well, no. They're the most common because oil is one of the things your average person brings up near it's combustion point on a regular basis. Few people know how to put out electrical fires, but that doesn't make them happen more often.
@@musewolfman putting out electrical fires is easy and we teach it to our kids early in life. Call 911 and pray to God the fire department gets there fast.
there really are people on this planet who live in 1st world countries and who don't know that you shouldn't extinguish an oil fire with water? I do not get it. I thought everyone knew that.
@@alithekat1599 Well yes, if its already to a point where it's out of your control and has grown too large. Otherwise, if possible, try to QUICKLY flip the breaker off to cut off all power to anything in the building, and utilize an extinguisher to douse the fire. No need to throw in the towel IMMEDIATELY unless it's just too much for you to handle alone.
Had a fire on our kitchen stove one time. Wife started yelling. I walked over, assessed the situation and calmly turn off the burner. Situation resolved.
They always are. I'm amazed that some people in food service don't understand this..... This was part of my training before I was ever let into a kitchen
Apparently I'm more intelligent than some people in a higher grade than me, cus I knew grease fire + water = big uh oh since I was like 9. Oh well I guess it's more important to learn that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell than basic fucking kitchen safety
Thats why i am glad I was in the Navy where they constantly trained us how to put out oil and gas related fires that water most certainly can’t put out. You have to take out at least one of the three components of a fire. Heat, Oxygen and fuel. And because the fuel of oil and gas fires is a liquid in many cases, water will only spread the fire and introduce more of the fuel to the fire as the water kicks up for flammable liquid. So you have to smother it or somehow take the heat out of the factor. We used AFFF in the Navy for exterior fires and a halon system for interior fires. A Halon system saps all the oxygen (and sometimes the heat) out of an area and the AFFF (aqueous film forming foam) smothers it to accomplish the same goal of taking oxygen out of the equation.
Back when I worked at Mcdonald's on our first day we were taught how to deal with grease fire by putting on the lid, cutting the heat (electricity) of a frying pan. The most important things were that if we didn't know what to do, inform the shift manager (which would probably notice if things caught on fire to begin with) and stay away from the fire. In some cases it is better not to do something than to do something stupid...
Many industry friers even have a cover specifically for fire. They can be found either as a pullout at the back end or as a slide-in that should be kept nearby. The problem, as our fire expert here has pointed out, training often doesn't go into fire control beyond "there's an extinguisher here somewhere" and I've met long-time managers of restaurants who also believe water always beats fire or, that you just let it burn itself out.
heh, when was the last time the chimneys were cleaned of all the grease and crap that fills them up? Letting a fire like that go is a great way to get a chimney fire and those things *suck*
industry friers are ussually connected to an Ansul system. it's all fun and games until your store has to close down for a week to clean the entire store due to an ansul situation.
Honestly, when it comes to oil fires, letting it burn itself out is probably a better option than putting water on it. At least if it just burns, it's under a hood and might not spread too far. If you put water on it, it WILL spread all over the place.
Recently saw a video of a girl doing a livestream from her kitchen while cooking. The pan started on fire, and she panicked. She started going “I don’t know what to do!” And then she picked up the flaming pan and put it in the sink and ran water on it, and made it worse. The whole time I was sitting there like “That pan got a lid?” Thank you thank you for being a fire fighter. You’re an essential part of our society.
I had experienced grease fire during my Chef -ing days. The Girl was rushing to fill up a bucket of water I was screaming WET TOWEL ! WET TOWEL ! LOLs Good times .
In emergency situations the amygdala response in your brain (fight or flight response) can inhibit your ability to consciously think (prefrontal cortex). So putting water on a grease fire can actually happen to anyone, because the knowledge "don't put water on grease fire" might not be accessible in a state of panic. Our brains are wired to "act fast, think less" in these situations.
When I was a cook at a nursing home I was cooking porkchops on the flattop and of course nobody emptied the grease trap, so out of nowhere there was a 3 foot high flame. I wasn't sure what to do but I stayed calm and got the maintenence man and he showed me how to properly put it out. Moral of the story is keep calm yes it may be stressful but freaking out makes it worse
I put one out in a restaurant. I heard the kitchen yell and then heard the sound. I ran over and yelled *NO WATER. TRUST ME* we used a bucket of seasoning salt and a big ass bowl on top of it.
This is a really important comment. My mom is not the brightest crayon in the box, but I'll never forget when she forgot the convection oven was on and I came by to see it on fire when I was 9 years old. She acted so fast, DUMPING salt all over it. I was shocked, but it worked, and all we lost was the oven itself. Salt works wonders.
First grease fire I ever had, I heard a small *foom* noise. I turned around and saw the grease trap was on fire. I definitely stared at it for a few seconds... Then I fished out a big lid and smothered it. I stared at it the second time it happened too. Just... Mildly confused as to why my kitchen was suddenly on fire
When I was in elementary school, a guest came to my classroom to showcase various hazards. I don't recall if they were a local firefighter, someone's dad, or just the chemistry teacher, but they taught me useful stuff that I still remember to this day. Including the content in this video.
When I worked at a fast food restaurant we had a dry powder fire suppression system in the grill, not in the deep fryer. We had several fire extinguisher on hand though including a class K one that was used when said deep fryer caught on fire one day.
Not mentioned... In the video a fire-supression system is clearly visible inside the hood, all they had to do is activate it. However that does mean that the employer actually trains kitchen staff about what it is and how to use it. Also when you can't put a lid on it: - Baking Soda! - Proper (not water) fire-extinguiser (that you should always have, and know where it is).
Yeah I think those fire suppression system are supposed to active automatically now, not sure though. Would have been interesting to see the rest of the video to know if it activated.
Late to the party. As someone who's always worked in cooking retail, but moved from business to business, I can say they do half of what you expect. You are taught what things do, where they are, what and what not to use. You are then told not to do any of these things, and to leave the building instead. Essentially, always provided the information needed to prevent and subdue a fire, but told to never do it. Some of it will be health and safety, some of it will be insurance-based… Like if you've had training that told you to put out the fire, but you die, there's likely a lawsuit there. And if the fire engulfs the building, there's likely fire insurance to cover it. This is in Scotland though, I obviously can't say the same for the country/state this film is located in, and it does look as if they haven't been trained for this (or ignored training).
Yes, for grease fires you need a "K" (silver) extinguisher, iirc. Most places only have "ABC" (red) extinguishers. But the store I worked at had the extinguishers and fire suppressor in the hoods of all of the cooking stations and actually showed us the "PASS" method video (but told us only a supervisor was to handle the extinguishers. WTF?)
Recently found your channel (from your shorts), and this is a genuinely great channel. When I was in the Navy, we went through a lot of fire safety and firefighting training during boot camp as well as regular drills aboard ship, as a fire on a ship can very quickly go from dangerous to catastrophic. One of the things that the chiefs would bang on about during every drill or training session was quickly identifying what type of fire you're dealing with and cutting out at least one of the fuel source, the heat source, or the oxygen supply.
100x more important today too since with things like electric vehicle battery fires you cant just treat them like a normal gas fire. On ships thats super important too since there are so many electric fires. My dad was an electrician on board an aircraft carrier and to this day he's thankful he didnt end up on the USS Enterprise like the Navy originally planned, he said they had tons of electrical fires to put out and each time that meant an electrician making repairs as well as constant reports on why the fire happened to hopefully prevent them. All the chemicals on board also must be fun, especially back in the days where the ships were stuffed with asbestos.
Worked for chick-fil-a for 13 years. put out almost a dozen grease fires. open fryers are bit more of a hassle, but pressure fires are easiest, and i still had people just stare at it in disbelief. i always quizzed my guys on putting out fires and where extinguishers were. never had to use the Ansul system fortunately.
Good job on drilling your crew on it. That kind of thing you don't want people to have to think about. Having them just know it means a fire isn't a big deal it's just a little fire, you do this and put it out. Gold star.
I do the same at the gas station I work at. also explaining co2 measuring and that we have to fucking open a window from time to time. still every time I come in the display shows not only harmfull, as in lower brain activity, but actually toxic values. sure is hard to understand the world we live in.
I've had that same reaction before, actually like a few days ago. i was cooking steak and the fire jumped into the pan and caught the oil on fire and i stood there like yep that's a fire. gave it a few seconds to either ramp up or go down then took it off the stove and 3 seconds later the fire went out. I remember one of the kids looked over at me and screamed fire and i was like yeah i know, im not blind. Just let me deal with it please.
Just a typical reaction. The second reaction is to evacuate after several fire drills. Luckily, when some tupperware caugt fire at a previous job (the dish stand was on top of the plates in the tiny kitchenette,. doh!) one person soaked a towel and smothered the fire with it. Electricity, heat, plastic fire, water? Not a good combination normally but it worked, I also don't know if there wera any flames or just melting plastic (which would have caught fire in a few minutes). The fire alarm was an insistent beeping sound from the alarm box, but there were no other indication that there was a fire. This was rectified within weeks.
Just discovered your channel and while I'm really rolling on the floor with your shorts, these videos are among the best I have ever seen (and the best on this topic of course). I spent the whole day today watching your videos and I don't regret a single second of it. Greetings from Italy!
Instructions unclear... Step 1: Could not turn heat off of wife Step 2: Put lid on wife - Wife got angrier (?) Step 3: Order food but locked out of the house.
My husband and I had a chimney fire. Hubby panicked. I called a firefighter friend. He was so frickin calm, it was like he was sweet talking to a baby. He’s like, “you have a fire extinguisher, right?” “Where is it?” Etc… He was awesome! He recommended we call our local fire brigade. We did. All Chief Fire Officers from ALL surrounding areas showed up with all the trucks and personnel. Turns out there was some meeting that they were all at so they all came. Thanks to my friend, the fire was put out by me.💪🏼 😂 Turns out my friend is a serial cheater, tried it with me. Has affected my perception of firemen unfortunately. I hope this guy goes home whenever he can during the lulls in his weeklong shifts. But, I can’t help looking at him side eyed. Still watch and like all his vids cuz he’s frickin hilarious…so was my friend 😢
I've had experience with a grease fire recently and remembered this video! Turned the heat off, slammed the lid on the pan and the fire went out instantly! Heart rate took a little longer though
to anyone joking that they're staring, yes it is funny. but I'd like to point out that they were calm. this could have gotten much worse a lot faster had they panicked. that being said, they're still idiots
Where was the fire extinguisher tho? It's a restaurant not a house so one should be there yet they're just staring at it like I did when I was 11 and hard a grease fire (didn't end well, still got burn wounds as proof)
@@knighthunter1791 I figured legally due to inspections they'd have 1 but inspections aren't always surprises so not having 1 or more all the time that can handle a restaurant kitchen cause of cost would make sense. Employees maybe also weren't trained to use it like how I was 11....which is very sad and dangerous.
A few helpful hints: 1. In general, fires require oxygen, a heat source, and a fuel. 2. The CORRECT way of extinguishing a fire is to REMOVE at least one of these components, not add anything. 3. For electrical fires, try to turn off the source of electricity. For grease fires, cover the fire with a nonflammable lid. For campfire/wood fires, dousing the flames with water is helpful, but a fire extinguisher is your safest bet just in case there are exposed live wires/oil. 4. Only try and handle SMALL fires on your own. If the flames are spreading too quickly or the fire is too large, CALL the fire department.
Note: If you ABSOLUTELY KNOW that the electricity is now off and can't come back on, you no longer have an electrical fire. Water is then okay IF there are no other reasons water is bad.
@@Supremax67 sorry no, baking soda, corn starch, and flour actually are small particulates that cause fire bombs due to their thermal properties. Use salt or sand since the makeup of either is resistant to heat.
There was a fire safety training at my workplace, and I recalled the demonstration of "what happens if you pour water into a grease fire". The resulting fireball burnt a small tree branch which was about 10 metres above ground. If you are desperate, a damp towel would do as well, but you have to make sure that it is not dripping.
Different types of common extinguishers: Class A- anything that makes Ashes (wood, paper, cloth, etc) Class B- anything that can Boil (grease, oil, gasoline, etc) Class C- anything that is Charged (electricity, outlets, batteries, etc) Class ABC- anything that Ashes, Boils, or Charged with electricity. Class D- metals than can burn because they Dent (magnesium, lithium, aluminum, etc) Class K- better for Kitchen fires that can boil (grease, frying oil, etc)
Nobody has ever explained ABC to be that way before. I do know the difference but A-Ash B-Boils C-charged would have really saved me some damned time! Thank you. I'm totally using this from now on.
@@petesoutdoor it still works. B works on grease fires. K works better and is for large grease fires. I always remember k for kitchen but I know b will put out a household grease fire. I'd bet a b would have been fine for the fire in the video in it's early stages (it looks like the vat is mostly empty).
@@petesoutdoor A Class K extinguisher is ideal due to it’s ability to form a foam blanket over the grease but a Class ABC extinguisher will work if a Class K isn’t available.
I can back this up as an HR professional and former restaurant manager/trainer. Your employees are only as good the training--and re-training--they receive. I've worked in places that take training super serious and other places where I had to fight to get basic training for new and current employees. Common knowledge is not common unless everyone knows it.
having worked in kitchens for well over a decade, I've seen some nasty once that were lack of training related, When I was actually in a semi management position (sous chef) I was doing the training and the restaurant owners were our worst enemy. If we were to have a fire that we used an extinguisher due to local ordinances we had to have the fire marshal come and inspect the area, and have the effected area of the kitchen professionally cleaned to make sure all of the fire retardant would be gone so it couldn't contaminate food. Even worse their policy was "If the overheads ever go off, you're all losing your jobs." I get it, it's costly to clean up, it's down time to have the fire marshal come out and inspect. It's costly to have the system reset. However, those overheads are the last line of defense if a fire gets nasty, and it can happen damn fast if say... you're not supposed to use the extinguishers...... half the time the people running the show are part of the problem. My instruction to any of them I trained was dependent on what was on fire. Flattop? turn the heat off, salt it. Charbroiler? turn the heat off, salt it, if a fist full of salt isn't doing it... you'd be amazed how fast it goes out with milk of all thing. Fryers? Type K extinguisher. I have zero concern for what upper management wants. Most kitchen fires in non fast food kitchens.. well they are pretty frequent, they are small, quickly and calmly handled, and the day moves on. fires in a fryer or other cooking where there's a lot of oil. Yeah, doesn't matter if we have to shut down for the night, it's better than having the whole place burn. Also I should mention, the above fires mentioned (flat top, charbroiler etc) if the fire is large, or spreads rapidly skip all the small solutions, and again. straight to a fire extinguisher. There's a reason commercial kitchens in the US are required to have them on hand by law, same law also mandates regular inspections of them so when we do need them, they will work.
It's even surprising how many jobs I've gotten simply because of firefighting training from the Navy... all the way to knowing overhaul procedures, even if it's only enough (without equipment) to know stuff NOT to do before the FD gets involved and takes over. Little things like knocking the drywall open because it's still smoking can get you access to the bad wiring that actually started the thing... and allow you to continue fighting it down while other employees are best advised to work on the evacuation and phone calls... AND as I've promised more than one "boss", I'm only ever going to risk MY life... never anyone else's... and I'm only going "so far" on that risk. ;o)
@Crimson Outdoors Co. Common sense is something that you don't need to be told. Your statements contradict each other. Common sense is that water puts out fire, and it usually does. An educated person knows that grease fires are hot enough to boil water instantly, making it worse, which goes against your common sense, hence you need to be 'educated' about it.
@Crimson Outdoors Co. People like you are why kids are too scared to asked questions. You just call them stupid for not knowing any better. Be a judgemental prick! Great way to make the future a better place! 👏👏👏
Kinda what I figured, the flames are too hot for water and it kind of “moves it around”. The way he explained it makes a lot more sense; I didn’t know the part about taking its oxygen away, also that certain types of extinguishers work as well. This stuff is always good.
lemme tell you as someone who works in a restaurant watching that dude walk up with a bucket gave me the kind of jolt of fear you can only have when someone is about to do something tremendously stupid and life threatening. i get that jolt pretty much several times a week. love my staff but them kids are gonna put me in the grave.
I am slowly but surely coming to the realization that, after humanity has eliminated virtually all natural selection pressures, we definitely need some artificial ones to weed out the non-adaptive members from our gene pool. 😂😂😂
@@RustyDust101many of my gripes with rules and regulations boil down to just that lol. At some point, we have to let natural selection do it’s thing, we can’t keep trying to fight nature forever
@@DaTimmeh i have to admit i became 10x better at handling fires after i accidentally burned my eyebrows off being an idiot and leaning over a gas grill trying to light it with an open flame
My mom already knew exactly how to put out grease fires at an early age. Not sure if she learned it working in a cafeteria, her parents, friends, or what. But she taught me to never use water on grease fires. I think she used baking soda one time when putting out a fire on a stove since it was the quickest, closest thing. But yeah, never had to use this knowledge but good to know. I love these videos. Comedic and teaching good lessons.
My first thought on something to cover this particular fire, since i don't remember my old job having a lid for the fryer, is to put a baking sheet on top of it, probably roughly the same size
Yup. The oil doesn't burn, the oil vapour burns. When you throw the water in, it boils and explodes in a cloud of steam, atomising lots of hot oil. Congratulations you've now succeded in vapourising more flammable oil! Yay! :D
@@0neMadGypsy Unlucky for them humans aren't made out of metal, like who gives a shit about cleaning the kitchen (you do that anyway everyday, if you work in a place that takes health and safety standards seriously) Kitchens are literally made to be easily deep cleaned, tiles and metal. It's a hose and scrubbing, not that big of a deal. What is a big deal however, is pouring water into burning grease, which is going to react by exploding in the direction of your face, which is flammable, and grease/oil loooves to stick to skin, even if it's burning. His biggest concern is the fire, regardless of how inconsequential you seem to think it is, because that little baby waby fire is burning on top of a few liters of oil. Also, who on earth works in a kitchen that doesn't clean it everyday? Do you know how much of a safety risk build up grease is? Especially in an environment where you might have open flames, and plenty of things that can ignite grease. Not to mention health risks of operating a dirty commercial kitchen, shameful. "little pan fire" ah yes, a 4 liter deep frier with flaming oil = "little pan fire"
I once put out a grease fire in my kitchen. Thanks to the extensive fire training i had when i was employed at an oil refinery, i knew what to do. Ever since, I've kept a fire blanket next to the cooker, as not all pots have lids.
When I was at university the local fire department put on a great demonstration of this principle. They had a saucepan full of oil burning and dunked a glass of water on it with a big pole (safety first!). Wow, did that great a huge fireball fast. Definitely a good lesson for dumb students.
They should be doing this demo way more often, in school and such. I saw them doing it 30 years ago as kid at a fire station open door type event, still remember it vividly. Big ball of fire stays fresh in memory, who would have thought ?
@@iNinBreak Ah, the classic. My Midschool chem teacher was (allegedly, pretty sure he talked that one up) banned from all but the oldest and most (ab)used chem teaching room, because he loved to demonstrate the liquid wax + water trick to essentially every class at least once. He had already ruined that room's ceiling, so it was the only room where his 'fun' showcase experiments wouldn't do any further harm.
Why call them dumb if they simply don't know? That's ignorance, something we are all born with and have in subjects we don't encounter often or aren't familiar with. Stupidity would be assumption or attempting to do something without knowledge on it, and therefore making the situation worse.
Okay, time for my fire story. It was the summer before my senior year of college, and I decided to take the summer semester cell bio class. We'd been working on counting and plating cells under sterile protocol (read: bunson burner) all week and since it was a senior level class, we actually took it seriously and were generally responsible. Our professor nipped upstairs briefly to check on an experiment he was running and left the TA to keep an eye on us. I come back from the microscope closet where I was counting cells to hear an alarmed *"Uhhh..."* from my lab partner. She's staring at our sterile fume hood, where the PET plastic sample tray had gotten too close to the flame and caught fire. It was melting while burning very cheerfully. We stared at it a moment. She switched off the burner. I carefully reached in and moved the rest of the flammable stuff away from the flame. We called the TA over and he joined us in staring at the flame. We all knew water was a bad idea...but what were we supposed to do instead?? Naturally, this is when we discovered the teacher was gone. We stared at it another moment - half the plastic stand was consumed now - and then the TA got the fire extinguisher. It put the fire out! It also got melted plastic & fire extinguisher foam all over the $4000 fume hood. And this is how I learned you should smother a grease or plastic fire with a lid, beaker, or something else FIRST of you can, and reach for the fire extinguisher SECOND
Check the material of the lid/cover just in case. I had a classmate melting plastic with a cheap aluminum setup when he let the plastic get too hot and the plastic caught fire. He immediately put the cheap aluminum lid on it - which melted clean away after a second or 2. He eventually did get it out, but it was a little hairy for him and his friends nearby.
Honestly water probably would have been OK. It's only when you have significant quantities of liquid (or loose powder if you wanna get spicy) that you're going to get a steam explosion like this. Burning a plastic tray isn't going to have a large liquid volume. A thing you can do if you're stuck and water is your only option btw is *mist* the water, if the water boils/evaporates before it hits the burning liquid it won't do the big flame ball trick. but will still take the heat and some of the air out of the fire triangle By mist I really do mean mist btw, not droplets or sprinkling water etc. But file that under Plan-C.
@@zyeborm that's a really shitty solution! No-one has a water mister that can do that job safely unless they're already got a water mist fire extinguisher! Even a tiny drop of water into hot oil or fat or liquid plastic will cause a steam explosion. I know this, I've done it. You'd do better to let it burn than almost certainly accelerate it.
@@NigelTolley I mean it's worked for me more than once. Just with a garden hose and the mist setting. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a great plan, but it might be the least worst option.
For food service workers, if your place is properly equipped you should also have a Class K fire extinguisher (or hood system above the grease frier). As the video indicated water is BAD for a grease fire and using a normal extinguisher will just spread that beautiful beautiful burning grease, even more, so using the right extinguisher is crucial...also be aware of how your hood system operates, it's easy to assume it will kick on automatically but many may require you to pull a switch mounted somewhere nearby in order to activate it (we had this happen at a kitchen around where I work cause everyone including the chef assumed it was automatic until inspector indicated that wasn't the case). Oh for a bonus round, even if grease isn't burning if it's HOT treat that sh*t like uranium cause if that spills on you or someone else during the process of moving it no amount of plastic surgery will probably be able to undo the damage it can do...if you want to be scared straight just look on youtube, there are videos that will disturbingly drive home the danger and damage of hot grease. Always use proper PPE, and always announce where you're moving if you're in a busy kitchen and moving behind someone.
I work in fast food and we are always told not to use that system bc it costs £4000 each Time you use it and we get fired if we use it😭😭 I’m calling the manger and letting him presss that shit I don’t get a salary he does
This the stuff they NEVER teach on orientation or anywhere else for that matter. I say they should use the color system cause most stores only have one type to fight basic fires while also housing other chems in the back warehouse. Whose gonna remember!
dont need to look it up. My father managed to pull a deep fat fryer onto himself as a toddler. Presumably he wanted to see what was cooking but tried to use the cord to pull himself up. He's still got scar tissue all over his body from that.
@Benjamin Bierley can you tell me what a class k extinguisher is? I'm from germany so I don't know what this means. I know there's normal extinguishers with foam, there are special wipes for kitchens to put out fires and there is this CO2 extinguisher we've had in our workplace (car workshop). is this class k the CO2 thing maybe?
I learned this and fire safety as a child in the 80s. There was a real push in the early grades at that time for kids safety education for Fire, Poison & Strangers. I'm amazed at how many people don't even know the basics of stop drop and roll, or cover & smother flame.
In todays progressive school system, teaching the children about CRT and the sexual preferences of LGBT%HNVF+-O people is far more important than making sure they know how to handle common emergencies.
My school told me alot about fire safety, I don't get where you people come off thinking it's "not taught in schools". unless America really is falling apart, I wouldn't know I'm a Canadian and our schools system is decent.
These are basics that I strongly believe should be taught to all kids in a fire safety course in school. When I was in school, we had field trips to aquariums, but I think it would have been more interesting and useful if we had gone on a field trip to a fire department where the fire fighters gave us a tour and also performed demonstrations for fire safety.
I'm lucky enougth to have had training as a chef in fighting a grease fire . The best way to do it is pray to the elder gods while sacrificing the youngest team member in the kitchen then you curl up on the floor in the fetal position and hope the fire gets bored and moves on to another kitchen
This sounds very intriguing! You MUST do a video on this method! think of the lives that could be saved, say nothing of the money saved on firefighter/EMS pay!
@@inconnu4961 unfortunately you can only learn the incantation from a level 5 elder chef . Its very complicated and involves 15 different languages some that have gone extinct. The sacrificial knife of Vernen the dumb the first chef to pour water on a grease fire becoming the first victim and his knife I used to offer the youngest team member to the fire out of respect ...... if you think this is interesting look up the axel system its an automated fire suppression system that sprays the area in a foam made from blended up babies and the souls of un named soldiers that are still lost on the ww1 battlefields of Europe
@@zaza7594 they do a vegan option but it involves digging up Rwandan genocide mass graves and using the soil to power it instead of babies . I prefer the old method of throwing puppies into the grease and letting their coats soak it up
2:18 the guy at the back just got left for dead holy shit, imagine just doing your job and your co-worker starts a mini explosion then runs away leaving you to die.
@@jasonlarsen4945 It's not worth the money that is paid to the employees. That's why it's going to robotic workers, as a field. Robots and electronics could do fast food prep and take orders for far cheaper and free up humans to do jobs that require more skills and are economically worth the wages. Nobody wants food prices to rise just so restaurants can pay people $15 per hour to do stuff that's worth $5 per hour.
@@matthewmosier8439 Like what? Many, many vocations will die away to human workers. there are computers(programs) that will replace some doctors & lawyers. All vocations are in danger of this encroachment. This is why Universal Basic Income has become such a hot topic!
@@inconnu4961 Universal basic income is one of the worst ideas ever created. It always would lead to more control leveraged using the money being given away. It also (as the extra unemployment benefits proved during Covid) would lead to reduced labor participation due to human laziness. That would in turn lead to forced labor once the problem became unsustainable.
I love how dude behind him just kept working like stuff wasn't happening. And except a few special circumstances, I would question the sanity of anyone who has water fire extinguishers in the kitchen.
Okay, I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Yes, I am a fireman, but I used to run a kitchen. Looks like these people were cleaning the fryer and didn't shut off the burner when they drained the oil. You usually realize it pretty quickly cause of the smoke but I guess they didn't. In my kitchen, I totally did the same thing but I caught it immediately and dumped a bucket of water in that I had ready for cleaning anyway. Looks like a couple of unsupervised teens that have never had to work with the fryer alone.
@@sgttau977 Every system is set up different and without seeing their hood I couldn't say. But I know for my place (It was much older) we only had a retrofitted Ansul system that only had a pull station. I've never dealt with a system that had heat sensors in the hood but they do exist and I imagine a facility that looks that new probably has them. Even if they have them though they probably aren't set off until 180+ degrees or so since the hood does already get extremely hot with normal operation.
I accidentally started a fire in the cafeteria toaster and I stared for like. Five seconds before I was like OH SHIT FIRE and then grabbed a worker to find a fire extinguisher. And then they stared for five seconds exactly like those people lmao
That's why some things are drilled again and again until you act on pure instinct. Sometimes our brain just needs a moment to comprehend the information it's getting, especially if we deal with situations to which we say: "Don't worry, this won't happen here."
This is great! I think though that you should definitely do a short on how to use a fire extinguisher (if you haven't already). I didn't even know how till I got my first job and had to watch a safety video!
In the late 1970s, the company I worked for would use the extinguishers that were due for service as training tools. The people who worked in areas that create fire risks (some chemicals, heat/flame, power tools) and all the loading-dock and delivery-driver staff got training and live practice. The metal trough of fuel really teaches people where they have to aim - most people naturally aim too high. I only got to use a Class D one time, and I *do not* want to ever deal with a metal fire, even if I have the right extinguisher. Later, as a college Resident Assistant, we got similar training. The trainer thought _he_ had done something wrong when I put out the trough-of-fuel in under 2 seconds, and he had me do it again. Even later, my girlfriend thought I was just obsessive about having fire extinguishers available - until her grandpa spilled some gas on himself and a hot 2-stroke engine while helping her refuel it...creating a fire. They were within 10 feet of a foam extinguisher that worked on grandpa's arms, the string trimmer, the gas can and the ground.
In an industrial kitchen, like in the vid, they should have a 'wet chemical' extinguisher (yellow colour code in the UK) which is good for hot oils and fats. I think that the vid shows pipework for a permanantly installed one over the fryers which can be operated from a safe distance.
Years ago I was helping my sister set up for a family dinner. She'd decided to do a fondue, and she spilled a bit filling the reservoir on the alcohol heater, soaking the tablecloth. When she lit the heater the tablecloth lit, and the flames began to spread quickly. I just grabbed a dish towel and dropped it over the flames. The fire was no big deal because I dealt with it quickly. She had a fire extinguisher, somewhere, but I had no idea where. (Which is why my fire extinguishers are always mounted in the open, not hidden in a cabinet.) The towel was faster and cleaner. Years later, when I discovered that there are now purpose-built fire blankets on the market, I bought enough to mount one on the wall everyplace a fire was likely. So now I have both a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket on the wall of my kitchen. Neither of which I've ever needed to use.
The fact that he could've just pulled the trigger for the underhood extinguishers make me think he doesn't have basic fire safety and knowledge. EDIT: Found the underhood extinguisher, it's the red thing on the right
The fire training is probably on the e-learning platform that only covers one topic a month and they haven't been there for long enough to get around to fire yet or they just cheated.
Working in the grill of fast food, I can tell you that no one is trained on what to do in an emergency. No one tells us what fire suppression systems are installed, how to activate them… they don't even tell you what to do in the event of a fire. A lack of training all around. We aren't properly trained to do our regular jobs!
Once, in my youth, I started a grease fire (oil left in a pan on the stove). I knew water was bad but blanked on what to do, so I opened the patio door and yeeted the pot into a snowbank. I see now that putting a lid on would have worked better.
Oh damn, just saw your jacket that says Rockford IL. My family went there in 2008 to see some cousins that had a clothing store, had my first actual white Christmas there, my brothers and I went sledding and built our first snowman, plus first time in negative weather (from Texas, usually hit mid 20s then we weren’t allowed outside) absolute blast, loved that city!
Fryer caught fire when I was working at McDonald's once. Everybody was freaking out, I simply walked over, turned off the fryer, put the cover on it, and walked away. Put the fire out. The same thing happened about a week later. Accept the manager in charge, tried using water, and I got a nice three days off.
You know, I think the most important lesson is honestly the "call 911" part, because it applies in general. Even if you do manage to put out the fire yourself, it won't hurt to already have a dispatcher on the phone, because if things go bad, you want the fire department to react as quickly as possible. Sure, there is the potential chance that you don't end up needing help, and you will have taken time away from a dispatcher who may potentially have gotten a different call at that time that nobody else was available to answer. But unlike with a prank call, you didn't waste that time for nothing, because it was equally as possible that you would have needed help, and it that case waiting would have taken valuable time away from yourself. Also, the dispatcher can advise you, for example screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" when you tell him you are going to pour a bucket of water into a burning deep fryer. Ideally, when you have two people as in the video, one of them tries to put out the fire while the other one calls 911. This way, you make sure you aren't wasting time no matter how the situation pans out.
Okay... SO on most "human sized" fires, it's all well and good to get it put out by any means necessary... BUT for dubiously large blazes, do you know how to conduct a proper "overhaul" of the scene after the flames are out??? Do you have appropriate equipment (like a Flir device) to help seek out hot-spots??? What about a proper "overhaul rake" at the very least??? Might be able to lick the fire initially, but there's a point where you should probably just go ahead and have the guys roll out and get through that tedious part of making sure you're not suffering a false sense of security and about to deal with a flash-over. ;o)
Or if you’re a kid or minority or poor, it’s probably a good idea to keep the fire and medical emergency direct numbers in your phone. Which can also be a little faster than going through 911 dispatch
Yep. If the confused workers had called 9-1-1 immediately, they would have been told to smother it or use a fire extinguisher, and to absolutely not put water on it. Being that they stood around for about a minute before dumping water on it, they had plenty of time for the call. The fire wasn't getting bigger until water was thrown on it.
At one time, I worked for a fire investigator; he worked for insurance companies. After awhile, I asked him and his wife, "how do you burn something down to make it look like an accident"? He replied, "make it look like you were cooking something and it caught fire and got out of control". He also added, "you have to let all your shit burn....a cooking fire in an empty house immediately looks suspicious". 😉😎
I remember my dad teaching me this when I was younger. Was a volunteer Firefighter. And also has a phone book sized binder of firefighting certifications. Also was one in the Air Force. And was an Adjunct Professor at the Spokane Fire Academy when he was stationed there. My guy knows how to put the fire out on the damn Space Shuttle. So yeah I learned from the best lol
In 2015, an entire floor of one of my university's accommodation buildings was practically destroyed because a student attempted to put out a grease fire by dumping the pan in the sink and turning on the taps. Okay, the building was old and had seriously inadequate compartmentation, which allowed the fire to spread rapidly, but still.
Must have been a lot of oil. Normally just dumping it in the sink is already pretty enough to extinguish it already, since it shouldn't be all too much about its burning point. But the devil is likely in the details.
Salt can work too for a flaming frying pan. Also a good reason to clean your hood vent occasionally, you don't want flammable grease building up in there when something starts on fire immediately below it.
I had grease fires several times while cooking on electric stoves (yep, electric stoves without open flame). First time, - I tried to apply water to the fire, it just made things worse! Then, as panick started to kick in, I ran to the bathroom took the towel soaked it into water (dripping wet, mot just damp) and covered that flaming frying pan with it. It worked like charm! Fire died out in an instant. From then on when grease fires happened I knew how to handle them. Maybe three times in total I had to use this method. Nowdays my cooking habits are different (use much less oil, mostly cook in water) , but I am so glad I didn't lose my cool and used the "wet towel" method. It totaly starves fire from oxygen
I work at maccas, all stores are fitted with a fire suppression system, theres a fire blanket by each set of vats (my store has 2 sets) plus multiple different types of fire extinshers throughout the store. The back door to the corral where the co2 tanks are is also a fire safety door. Right from your first day of orientation you are told what to do should a fire happen. We also have vat lids to help smother a fire if its small enough and safe enough to use the lids first. All managers are first aide certified and it has to be renewed yearly. All staff are taught the basics on burns and have access to a first aid kit
