I was in my little yellow house, cooking in the kitchen. It was my first place after college, where I lived with several friends in south Los Angeles.
One of my housemates was in the kitchen with me, heating oil in a pot. Suddenly, she shrieked. I turned to see her pot of oil in flames. I could tell she was paralyzed with panic, so I instinctively grabbed the first thing nearby, which happened to be a large cup of water.
Did you know you’re not supposed to throw water on flaming oil? We were not aware of this. I dumped the water into the pot, and WHOOSH, the flames shot about four feet into the air. We both screamed. And then for some inexplicable reason, the flames suddenly disappeared, as if someone had sucked them away with a vacuum.
Later that day we did a bit of research, and discovered that covering the fire with a pot lid would have been quite a bit wiser.
One of my housemates was in the kitchen with me, heating oil in a pot. Suddenly, she shrieked. I turned to see her pot of oil in flames. I could tell she was paralyzed with panic, so I instinctively grabbed the first thing nearby, which happened to be a large cup of water.
Did you know you’re not supposed to throw water on flaming oil? We were not aware of this. I dumped the water into the pot, and WHOOSH, the flames shot about four feet into the air. We both screamed. And then for some inexplicable reason, the flames suddenly disappeared, as if someone had sucked them away with a vacuum.
Later that day we did a bit of research, and discovered that covering the fire with a pot lid would have been quite a bit wiser.
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