National Fire Prevention Week starts Sunday

Kitchen and cooking fires are not only the leading cause of fires in the home, but also the No. 1 cause of fire-related injuries every year.

National Fire Prevention Week kicked off Sunday.

Fire departments across the nation are hoping to spread awareness on how to prevent fires from happening in your own kitchen.

Firefighters said the best way to avoid a kitchen fire is to never leave your stove unattended while cooking. If a kitchen fire does occur, the department said get help immediately.

“Anytime you have a kitchen or an oven fire, we recommend you call 911 even if you got it out,” said Craig Snyder, division chief of the La Crosse Fire Department. “If there is any scorching on your cabinets or your back wall, the fire department will come in. We have thermal imaging cameras (so) we can check to make sure that fire didn’t spread into your walls or into your cabinets. It’s always the safest bet to just give us a call and let us come in to make sure it’s out. “

National Fire Prevention weeks ends Oct. 12.

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