Things Children Know

[GlassMan]

19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on

I know of one Arlington County, VA, adult who learned that the hard way too. When I was still with the ACFD, my engine company got dispatched to a kitchen fire in an apartment building. We got there and there was smoke coming out of the inside of a closed stove. Well, we turned off the stove, opened the door and quickly shot a fire extinguisher. Poof, fire out. Then we looked inside and there was a large box, charred to a crisp. As we pulled it out, you could barely make out "Microwave Popcorn" on it. At that point the husband said "That's where we put it!"

Apparently they had gone to Costco and bought lots of things in bulk but had run out of storage space. Since they hardly ever cooked, the hubbie decided to put the case of microwave popcorn into the oven. Then they thought they'd misplaced the entire thing somehow. On a whim, the wife decided to cook some of that food they'd purchased instead of eating out as was their norm. She had started the oven pre-heating without looking inside. That's when the gas oven caught the plastic, paper and solidified grease on fire.

[Colin]

Besides number 4 (which my son is likely to do) he is the more relaxed of the two. My daughter on the other hand is likely to try all of the above and more.