152 Adventures in Food and Nutrition
• Store towels, paper, pot holders,
cookbooks, and plastic items away
from the range. Also keep curtains
and cloth-covered furniture away
from the range. Cloth and paper
items burn easily. Plastic may melt
and produce toxic fumes.
• Keep appliances clean so that
grease doesn't build up. Grease
catches fi re easily.
• Don't use aerosol sprays near a
hot cooktop or oven. The heat may
cause the spray to fl ame.
• When cooking with oil, watch it
closely. Hot oil can easily catch fi re.
• If the fl ame of a gas oven goes
out, turn off the gas. Then, open
the oven door and air out the room.
When relighting it, always light the
match fi rst then turn on the gas.
• If you smell gas, turn off the range
controls. Open a window to let the
gas escape. Do not try to light the
range. It could cause an explosion.
Alert others in the house to leave.
Call the gas company from a neigh-
bor's house and ask them to inspect
the range and gas lines.
• Install smoke alarms, 8-5. These ap-
pliances warn you when smoke is in
a room. Smoke alarms save thou-
sands of lives and homes every year.
• Keep a fi re extinguisher handy. Be
sure to learn how to use the fi re
extinguisher before a fi re starts.
Fires may start even when you carefully
follow safety rules. This makes it important to
know what to do if a fire does occur. Acting
quickly and calmly can save your life, 8-6.
If food cooked on the cooktop catches
fire, here’s how to put it out.
1. Turn off the heat if you can safely reach
the controls.
2. Put the fire out with a fire extinguisher.
You also can throw salt, baking soda,
8-5 8-5
Smoke alarms check the air in a room.room. Smoke alarms check the air in a
If smoke passes through it, the smoke alarmalarm If smoke passes through it, the smoke
warns you.you. warns
8-6 8-6
Knowing how to use Knowing how to use
a fi re extinguisher can help you stop a fi re extinguisher can help you stop
a fi re quickly.quickly. a fi re
Refl ect: When was the last time you checked the smoke
detectors in your home? Safety experts encourage us to check
smoke alarms on the days we change clocks when we go on and
off daylight savings time.
Activity: Have students examine the fi re action plan for the
school. Also, have them make fi re action plans for their homes
and teach their families how to use the plans.