You may not know this, but your kitchen is the most vulnerable place for a home fire. If you spend your share of time cooking daily meals or baking, a word to the wise is to be a responsible cook.
Fire can damage your home, and fire can be deadly.
Take it from Capt. Stephen Shakeshaft with the Fayetteville Fire Department. He’s been a city firefighter for 20 years, and Shakeshaft knows a thing or two about kitchen fires.
“The two biggest factors are leaving it unattended for whatever reason,” Shakeshaft, 40, said Monday about the leading cause of kitchen fires. “Number two could be some incident like oil boiling over.”
Shakeshaft says the No. 1 cause of home fires starts in the kitchen, and the FFD responded to 50 kitchen fires in this city in 2024. Now, the FFD is doing its part to prevent kitchen fires by distributing automatic stovetop fire suppressors to a number of vulnerable residents, i.e., the elderly or low-income eligible residents.
Households were selected, according to a news release, by analyzing 911 call data to identify areas of risk within the city, then overlaying that information with maps of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved neighborhoods.
“The project is still underway, but we’ve given out somewhere around 50 of them already,” Shakeshaft said, “and that still leaves about 150 homes.”
And there will be more to come.
The city’s Economic and Community Development Department purchased 468 stovetop fire suppressors, according to the release, via a Community Development Block Grant. The stovetop fire suppressors, Shakeshaft says, are available to anyone in the community who cannot afford the cost.
“We also have a small amount of them available for anybody,” he said, “ if you have elderly parents or somebody that you think may be at risk. If you know an elderly person or a disabled family member, you can call us, and we can hook them up no matter where they live.”
Stovetop fire suppressors are magnet-mounted canisters that are placed over the stovetop hood in residential homes, according to the release. Say you suddenly become aware of an open flame on your stove, the canister activates and deploys an extinguishing agent directly over the fire.
Be aware, Shakeshaft says, the suppressor only can be mounted on metal stovetop hoods.
“There are some apartment complexes putting them in now,” Shakeshaft said.
Another tool in the fire prevention toolbox
Freddy Johnson can tell you all about firefighting, something he’s been doing since age 22 when he started in 1975 at the Lake Rim Volunteer Fire Department, and Johnson will tell you stovetop fire suppressors can make a difference.
“Stovetop suppression systems for residential kitchen fires are another tool in our fire prevention and suppression toolbox,” said Johnson, who is the longtime fire chief for Stoney Point Fire Department No. 13 on Stoney Point Road and Stoney Point Fire Department No. 19 on Lake Upchurch Drive in Parkton. “With a stovetop fire suppression system in place, there is an immediate response to kitchen fires, minimizing spread and potential damage.
“Stovetop suppression systems are designed to activate automatically when it detects high temperature or flames, thus ensuring quick action even if no one is present in the kitchen. By quickly containing and extinguishing fires at their source, a stovetop fire suppression system certainly helps to protect property from extensive damage.
“Because the units provide a quick and timely suppression response,” Johnson said, “the system can lead to significant residential cost savings by preventing the need for extensive repairs due to fire damage.”
The canisters magnetically attach to your kitchen stove vent hood, Johnson says, and are not visible.
“I would highly encourage the use of a stovetop suppression system to our residents,” said Johnson, who is president of the Cumberland County Fire Chiefs Association. “The system will most certainly make a difference in safeguarding both lives and property when dealing with unattended cooking fires. The City of Fayetteville Fire Prevention team is on top of their game and actively conducts public fire prevention programs throughout the year.”
‘Up and coming technology’
Shakeshaft and the Fayetteville Fire Department have been hard at work along with students from the E.E. Smith High School Fire Academy in distributing the stovetop fire suppressors to our more vulnerable homes.
The fire academy is a program in partnership with Cumberland County Schools, Fayetteville Technical Community College and Fayetteville State University, according to the release, that is designed to prepare students for firefighting careers.
“As kitchen fires remain the number one cause of home fires in the United States, stovetop fire suppression systems have become increasingly popular and are proving to be very effective in reducing the damage caused by kitchen fires in recent years,” Shakeshaft said.
He describes the stovetop fire suppression as “up-and-coming technology” in home fire prevention and safety.
“We definitely want to get the word out,” Shakeshaft said.
Epilogue
Shakeshaft says different name brands are available online for about $50-$55 for a set of two suppressors.
“If you can’t afford one,” Shakeshaft said, “give us a call” at (910) 433-1116.
One last reminder.
When cooking, always be vigilant.
Bill Kirby Jr. can be reached at billkirby49@gmail.com or 910-624-1961.
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