The Results Could Have Been Catastrophic

My wife and I have been married for 43 years. Throughout our years together, we've always cooked on a Gas Stove. We simply enjoy cooking on a Gas Burner! Notice, I said, "We".... I like to cook, too! In fact, I do most of the cooking and the grocery shopping. My wife would tell you she has trained me well!

Along with cooking on a Gas Stove, we've always (out of habit I guess) hung the Kitchen Towel on the Over Door handle, just below the Burner Knobs. Again, we have done this throughout our marriage!

Last week I was preparing my morning Omelet. Everything was in the pan with about three minutes of cooking left until the food would be finished. I decided to walk over to my desk which is just the other side of the family room and was gone 30-45 seconds. When I came back, the Kitchen Towel was in flames. Additionally, the room was quickly filling with a soot like smoke and I realized I needed to extinguish it fast. I had my shoes on and stomped it out. The towel was completely ruined, nothing really left. Yes, the smoke alarms went off, all of them!!!

My point is simple: We were very fortunate that I was out of the area for only a moment. Any longer could have been devastating. Again, we are not talking about just smoke, there were flames. By the way, we do keep an extinguisher under the sink and you should too!

Needless to say, we are no longer keeping our Towel over the Over Door Handle of the Stove. We've created a new place for it and other things, too! In fact, we've chosen to move several items far away from the stove.

Allow me to make a suggestion today: Perhaps you should examine your kitchen, paying attention to potentially flamable things thought to be safe! If you have the slightest question mark about an item, maybe you should move it away from your stove, too! It truly is better to be safe than sorry.

A Footnote: By the way, I'm not sure how the towel ignited, that is, what caused the fire? My point is, the towel did catch fire! It took 43 years of cooking for it to happen, but it did become engulfed in flames!