Report identifies cooking as leading cause of home fires

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Report identifies cooking as leading cause of home fires

Last updated 3/27/2008 at Noon

Cooking was involved in an estimated 146,400 home structure fires in the United States in 2005, according to a recent National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) report.

Cooking fires accounted for 40 percent of the home structure fires in 2005, and these cooking fires resulted in 480 deaths, 4,690 injuries, and $876 million in direct property damage.

Home cooking fires peak between 5 and 7 p.m.

NFPA offers the following safety tips:

• Stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling, or broiling food. If leaving the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.

• When simm...

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