Monday, October 19, 2009

Fire

A pretty neat and in retrospect slightly terrifying thing happened today. I put a pan on the stove, poured some oil into it, and turned the heat to high. Since my mom was in the kitchen butchering meat, I figured I could leave and check on it in a minute or two. After being momentarily engrossed in whatever it was I was reading, I had the gnawing suspicion it was time to check on the pan. I reluctantly put down my book and headed for the kitchen, whereupon I saw my mom putting a flaming pan into the sink and about to turn on the faucet to put it out using water -- which is about the worst possible thing you could do for an oil fire! Oil and water don't mix; in a fire, they explode. I quickly grabbed a lid, dropped it on the pan, and snuffed the fire out.

If you want to see what happens when you add water to an oil fire, check out this or this. Amazing, yes, but don't try it at home.

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