UNATTENDED COOKING IS A REAL DANGER

How to avoid kitchen stove fires from happening by using stove safety

The kids are screaming, laundry is going, the cell phone is ringing and the dogs barking at the TV, all while you have something cooking on the stove. Can you relate to a scene like this and being just a little distracted? The answer is YES!

Most of us have forgotten our cooking at one time or another and caught it just in time before a fire. Your food might be a charred black substance, or worse yet, the pot melted into an unidentified frying object, but you avoided that fire………this time!

The other sad side to the story from unattended cooking is not so fortunate, but rather serious injury, loss of life and/or loss of the entire home is the result from forgotten cooking. Approximately 7,000 people are injured in kitchen fires each year and that doesn’t include the people who were killed. While statistics clearly indicate the seriousness of unattended cooking, they do not recognize the thousand of stove fires that were never reported, as the homeowner were fortunate enough to put out the fire themselves, however, usually not without some injury.

We all should be reminded of the standard stove safety practices when cooking.

• If you are baking, boiling or simmering food, check it frequently and do not leave the house.

• Make sure there is nothing on or near the stovetop that would easily catch on fire.

• Keep a lid nearby when you’re cooking in order to smother grease fires. If a grease fire starts, slide the lid over the pan and turn off the stovetop. Leave the lid on until everything cools.

• If an oven fire begins, shut off the oven and keep the oven door closed.

• Do not try to fight the fire yourself (59 percent of non-fatal injuries happened when victims tried to snuff the flames on their own).

• Leave the house and call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number.

Did you know?

• That over 60% of every kitchen fire starts from unattended cooking?

• The number of stovetop fires peak at 5:00 p.m. Most fatal time for a stovetop fire is between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

• Stove top fire incident rates in multi-unit buildings are 200% higher than in detached dwellings

• Subsidized residential dwellings are 300% higher than in non-subsidized residential dwellings.

These statistics are REAL and HORRIFYING!

Its human nature to say, “I’m fine, I don’t forget my cooking”, but it is not true! All of us are the same, and until something happens to our family and friends with injury or loss of life, do we then search for what is out there in the marketplace to prevent a kitchen stove fire from ever happening again. Stove safety is very important.

Further numbers indicate that the incident of unattended cooking increases with the aging adult over 60 years of age and continue to increase as we get older. Seniors are living longer in their homes and maximizing their independence is important to them. Families want that peace of mind that their parents are safe. Forgotten cooking is prevalent and can become the deciding factor whether your parents move into a retirement community or not.

There is a new solution - the iGuardStove - An Automatic Stove Shut Off Device!

Peace of mind to everyone, and extend their independence, plus, the monetary savings by delaying a move into a retirement community is real and can save tens of thousands of dollars!

People with disabilities like brain injury, Alzheimer’s and dementia. They too want a fulfilling lifestyle and to have a solution like the iGuardStove that improves their quality of life and provides safety when cooking.

Another high-risk situation is children learning to cook. They are exposed to being involved in a kitchen fire, as the technology of texting is rampant and definitely a distraction. At the end of day, the iGuardStove is for everyone and every household where there is cooking, no matter the age.

The iGuardStove can monitor your unattended cooking and will shut off the stove in your pre-set time when it sees you have left the kitchen area. When you do return to the kitchen, the iGuardStove sees you have returned and turns the stove back on. This device STOPS fires before they happen while the cooking is unattended and so much more! It is the best stove safety and home monitoring device on the market.

Imagine being able to quickly connect a device to your existing stove and have the stove protection when you forget your cooking.

• Ability to setup lock out times to disable the stove when necessary

• Ability to monitor stove usage through the Internet from anywhere in the country

• Ability to receive an instant alert text message and/or email notifying you that forgotten cooking has happened too many times in a 24 hour period, which indicates you may have a real issue in your home with the kids or your aging parents

• Child lockout protection. Regardless if they end up playing with the stove knobs or not, the stove lock will not allow the stove to energize.

Education, product knowledge and stove safety is important.

Did you know it took over 25 years for the smoke detector to become mandatory in our homes and that was only in the early 1990’s? Insurance companies recognize the smoke detector and your home insurance premiums are lower because of it. Some day this will ring true for the Automatic Stove Shut Off device – iGuardStove.

In the meantime, be proactive before smoke or fire starts; protect the heart of the home with an Automatic Stove Shut Off device today. Distractions happen and stove fires happen. Protect your family, neighbours and your home with an Automatic Stove Shut Off device – iGuardStove!

Kimberley Evans, www.iGuardFire.com “Creators of the iGuardStove”

Just in time for Fire Prevention Week, a Kelowna tech company has launched new product that can help prevent kitchen fires.

iGuardFire has introduced the iGuardStove, a safety product which, when connect to your stove, turns it into a smart stove.

Developers say iGuardStove gives a stove the ability to automatically shut off if it determines a pot has been left unattended, with the potential for fire.

It offers features such as:

Automatic shut off

Lock out stove operations late at night

SMS text alerts for emergencies

Emergency quick shut off ability

Child safe feature

12-month user history tracking

Low temperature text alert for snowbirds.

“I live in a busy house with three children (all of them are learning to use the stove) and there have been instances when they leave the cooking area unattended, greatly increasing the risk of smoke damage or a fire,” said Jeff Kristjanson of Banker and Traders Insurance.

“Last night, the device did it’s job three times while my youngest was cooking supper and I was in the other room. iGuardStove is extra peace of mind knowing a disaster can be avoided before it starts. I love this device.”

The iGuardStove was launched after two years of development. It hits the market as fire departments across Canada celebrate Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 4 to 10.