Galley Fire Procedures
Safety Management System 2007		SMS ST010 2007

Recently, a cook was preparing breakfast. He had a pan of bacon in the oven and when he started to remove the pan, the hot grease spilled on the oven burners, igniting the grease, causing a fire and smoke. In reaction to the situation, the cook threw cooking flour on the fire. This action only made the fire and smoke worse. He then reacted correctly, using a fire extinguisher located in the kitchen to put out the fire. Remarkably, there was no one injured nor any equipment damaged.

The potential hazards to such an event are obvious:

• Injury to personnel, or worse
• Damage to equipment, or worse

• Oven Mitts (if you do not have them, order them)
• When cooking bacon in the oven, empty the grease from the pan periodically. This action helps prevent grease buildup in the pan and keeps it from overflowing, as in this case. Then resume cooking.
• Clean your drip pan periodically, especially after breakfast, eliminating the grease buildup
• If a fire occurs, never panic.
• Never throw flour on a fire, it is fine-grained and can only act as an accelerator for the fire.
• Never throw water on a cooking fire. When added to grease, water pops and splatters, increasing the size of the fire.
• If possible, remove the pan from the oven using oven mitts, or a dry galley rag and extinguish the item outside the oven
• If the pan is on fire, never attempt to carry the pan out of the galley, it will be too hot to carry.
• It is possible to use baking soda or salt on the pan.
• Know where all fire extinguishers are located and how to use them.
• The fire extinguishers in the galley will be a multi-purpose dry chemical mixture that can be used on any fire in the kitchen.
• Fire extinguisher use: the procedures as defined in P.A.S.S.:

• If you discharge a fire extinguisher, alert your supervisor. That fire extinguisher must be sent out and recharged and a replacement extinguisher put in its place.