North Haven kitchen fire leaves family and dog temporarily displaced

At approximately 4:30 p.m., the occupants of a single-family home on Norfolk Way N.W. called 911 to report a kitchen fire. The fire started while the resident was cooking with oil, which ignited and quickly spread to the cabinets. Efforts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful, prompting the residents to evacuate and call for help.

When firefighters arrived, smoke was visible coming from the home. Crews entered the building, extinguished the fire, and rescued the family’s 17-year-old Shih Tzu, a visually impaired dog. The home’s working smoke alarms activated, working as they should to alert residents to the fire.

No injuries were reported, and a fire investigator has been called to determine the exact origin and cause of the fire.

In anticipation of many residents being busy in the kitchen over the holidays, The Calgary Fire Department would like to share the follow kitchen safety and fire safety tips:

Stovetop safety tips

Cooking is the number one cause of residential fires in Calgary. Practice safe habits in your kitchen that will prevent fires and injury.

• Never leave cooking unattended, stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, broiling or boiling food.
• If you must leave the kitchen, turn off the stove and remove the pot from the burner.
• Make sure to use dry oven mitts and potholders to prevent scalding or burns.
• Use the stove’s back burners whenever possible and turn pot handles inward to reduce the risk of pots being knocked over.
• Keep potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, and other items that can burn away from your stovetop.
• Clean food and grease from the oven and stovetop once it has cooled.
• Always keep an oven mitt and lid nearby when cooking. If a small grease fire starts in a pan, smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan.

Grease safety

• To prevent overheating and ignition of cooking oil, fry foods in a temperature-controlled deep-fat fryer or skillet designed for a maximum temperature of 200 °C.
• Clean food and grease from the oven and stovetop once it has cooled.’
• In case of a cooking oil fire:
  • Do not move the pot or pan or throw water on the flames. 
  • Using a lid with oven mitt, simply slide a tight fitting lid over the pot or pan to smother the flames.
  • Turn off the heat and exhaust fan.

Combining fire safety equipment with a home escape plan will increase your household’s ability to escape safely if there is a fire. Regular maintenance and testing of this equipment will ensure that it works when you need it.

Working smoke alarms save lives by alerting occupants to harmful smoke and can reduce your risk of dying in a home fire.

The toxic effects of inhaled smoke can overwhelm occupants before they can escape or even wake up from sleep. When properly installed, tested and maintained, smoke alarms are the best early warning system in the event of a home fire.

Home escape plans

In a typical home fire, you may have as little as two minutes to escape from the time the smoke alarm sounds. Knowing how to use those minutes can make a lifesaving difference.

A home escape plan contains the layout of your home, the escape routes that should be used, and where to meet once you are outside. It is important to create and practice an escape plan with everyone who lives in your home so that they know what to do if there is a fire.​​​​

Fore more information about fire safety and fire prevention, please visit calgary.ca

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