Why can't you throw water on a grease fire?
Never try to extinguish a grease fire with water. Throwing water on the fire can cause burning grease to splash, which can make the fire spread and potentially harm bystanders. It is dangerous to move a pan or pot of burning oil for the same reasons.
Why? Yes, because adding water to burning oil vaporizes the water, causing volume expansion of the water molecules inside hot oil, thus spreading the oil further.
Do NOT pour water on the fire! Since oil and water do not mix, pouring water can cause the oil to splash and spread the fire even worse. In fact, the vaporizing water can also carry grease particles in it, which can also spread the fire.
Flour should NEVER be used to extinguish a grease fire. It could be ignited, making matters worse. Baking powder and baking soda are NOT the same thing, and like flour, will make a fire worse. One of sugar's natural properties is flammability.
- Turn off the burner.
- Keep the pan in place. If you have a fire, your first instinct might be to move the pan. ...
- Place a lid over the pan. ...
- Let the lid smother the fire. ...
- If the fire does not go out, get everyone out of the house and call 911 from outside.
Water cools and smothers the fire at the same time. It cools it so much that it can't burn anymore, and it smothers it so that it can't make any more of the oxygen in the air explode. You can also put out a fire by smothering it with dirt, sand, or any other covering that cuts the fire off from its oxygen source.
Which Types of Fire Is Dangerous to Use Water On? You should never use water on Class B fires involving flammable liquids or Class C fires involving electricity.
Water (APW) Extinguishers APWs are designed for Class A (wood, paper, cloth) fires only. Never use water to extinguish flammable liquid fires. Water is extremely ineffective at extinguishing this type of fire, and you may, in fact, spread the fire if you try to use water on it.
If there's no lid nearby, douse the fire with plenty of salt or baking soda. Salt will smother the fire almost as well as covering it with a lid, while baking soda chemically extinguishes it.
You can use salt to put out a grease fire. In fact, along with baking soda, it is one of the best chemicals to use to put out a grease fire. A fire needs oxygen to burn. Salt smothers it, preventing it from reaching the oxygen, which extinguishes the fire.