Hints From Heloise

Dear Heloise: Quite often we hear of a house fire caused by something left unattended on the stove.

If, while cooking, you are called to the phone or the door, carry a potholder with you it’s a great reminder. - Eve, Marlboro, Ohio

Leaving something on the stove is extremely dangerous. This happens more than you can imagine. One of my secretaries faced this issue when a pot was left on the stove. She was interrupted and forgot about the pot and left the house to run an errand. When she returned home, she was immediately overcome by black, billowing smoke.

Thank goodness, the fire department came right away and extinguished the fire, but not before costly damage had been done.

Our friends at the National Fire Protection Association said their most recent statistics show there were 84,700 kitchen fires in one year. This doesn’t include the millions of kitchen fires that aren’t reported. They say that about half of the fires were caused by items left on the stove unattended. Please, don’t become a statistic! - Heloise