Taipei City Fire Department

People love to cook hot pots such as ginger duck soup and sesame oil chicken soup since the temperature has dropped recently. Taipei City Fire Dept. has also responded to several cooking fires caused by overcooking. According to statistics of Taipei City Fire Dept., cooking has been the primary cause of fire for 5 years. By November 30, 2022, there are 583 fire cases, accounting for 40.2% of all cases in Taipei, and result in 1 death and 2 injuries.

83.5% of cooking fires occurred in residential buildings, and 96.9% of them were the result of overcooking. Further investigation showed that when people forget cooking, it would lead to different degrees of fire (accounting for 55.7%), followed by going out without turning off the stoves (accounting for 31.8%). Age analysis of the cook indicated that 30.2% of them are in the range of 61 to 70 years old, followed by 71 to 80 and 51 to 60 years old (accounting for 18.7% each). Therefore, the age of cooks that cause fires falls between 61 and 80.

One should develop the habit of “never leave cooking unattended” to prevent kitchen fires, said Taipei City Fire Dept. If one needs to leave for urgent matters or go out, immediately turn off the fire source before leaving. When simmering for an extended period, it is recommended to set up an alarm as a reminder to prevent cooking fires. Besides developing good culinary habits, the selection of stoves is also a key point. Stoves equipped with safety devices, such as automatic flameout protection and thermal protection, can effectively reduce the probability of cooking fires. The protection devices can be triggered, respectively, by flameout and cookware temperature and cut off the gas supply automatically.  

We might cook daily though cooking is regarded as an ordinary thing. That is the reason why cooking has been the primary cause of fire in recent years. Fire Department stated that cooking fires could be effectively prevented once accurate culinary habits are established and gas stoves are equipped with safety devices.