PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Largo Fire Rescue is amping up its efforts to prevent kitchen fires.
It's a new initiative for this year's Fire Prevention Week.
"Heart is pounding right away…there's a million different things you have to consider while we are heading to the call… you know, are there people trapped? Are we going to have to save some lives? How big is the fire going to be?" said Clarence Wilson, a Largo firefighter.
It's a tough call that firefighter Wilson gets around the clock.
One of his biggest concerns is kitchen fires.
"They might be cooking while sleeping or while consuming alcohol and fall asleep during that…and if not having the proper fire safety techniques to know and having working smoke alarms in the home, it could be detrimental," said Summer Maher with Largo Fire Rescue.
The department is amping up its efforts with a portable hazard kitchen, going to the community to educate people as much as possible, especially as we get closer to the holidays when people spend more time in the kitchen.
The department uses the portable hazard kitchen to show people what to do while cooking, like clearing the area.
"If we are un-attending our cooking and we walk away from the kitchen, and a fire occurs, objects like paper towels, olive oil, salt and pepper, anything above your stove top could ignite," said Mahr.
Mahr is the Community Risk Reduction Specialist for Largo Fire Rescue and says in 2022, the department responded to 78 fires... the majority of the blazes happening inside kitchens.
"Stay in the kitchen when you cook; even if you walk away for just a minute, turn off the burner. We also see a lot of stove tops igniting because of residents using the stovetops as counter space," said Mahr.
Largo Fire Rescue is also focusing on communities with manufactured homes.
"Those types of structures tend to go up in flames very quickly," said Mahr.
It's a situation Wilson hopes Largo residents won't have to experience.
"It's very emotionally draining because their whole lives are uprooted… it's not just that they don't have a place to live, they don't have clothes, they don't have food, they don't know what they are going to do tomorrow," said Wilson.
