Fire Prevention Week 2023: Cooking Safety Starts with You

October 6th, 2023 - The Township of Huron-Kinloss Fire and Emergency Services is promoting this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Cooking safety starts with YOU. Pay attention to fire prevention.” Fire Prevention Week runs October 8th through 14th and works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take when cooking to keep themselves and those around them safe.  

According to the Office of the Fire Marshal, cooking left unattended is a leading cause of home fires in Ontario.

The Township of Huron-Kinloss Fire and Emergency Services encourages all residents to embrace the 2023 Fire Prevention Week theme. “Cooking safety starts with you,” said District Chief Scott Martyn. “A cooking fire can grow quickly. I have seen many homes damaged and people injured by fires that could easily have been prevented.”

The Huron-Kinloss Fire and Emergency Services offers these key safety tips to help reduce the risk of a cooking fire:

1. To prevent cooking fires, you must be alert. You will not be alert if you are sleepy, have consumed alcohol, drugs or medicine that makes you drowsy.
2. Always stay in the kitchen while cooking. If you must leave, turn off the stove.
3. Keep anything that burns—oven mitts, cooking utensils, dish cloths, paper towels and pot holders— a safe distance from the stove
4. Keep a proper-fitting pot lid near the stove when cooking. If a pot catches fire slide the lid over the pot and turn off the stove. Do not move the pot until it has cooled completely.

Both the Ripley-Huron Fire Department and the Lucknow & District Fire Department are hosting family open houses in support of this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign. Ripley’s is on Tuesday, October 10th and Lucknow’s is Wednesday, October 11th, both from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and will include a free BBQ, Fire Prevention activities for kids, a Touch-a-Truck and more.

For more general information about Fire Prevention Week and cooking safety, visit The Office of the Fire Marshal. For fire safety fun for kids, visit sparky.org.