My gosh.  That sure brings it home.  I also had heard, that if you can't get
close enough to turn it off (controls on the back side), you can flip the
circuit breaker off.  I've heard of salt, but never a wet towel.  Sure looks
like it works.  The dampness apparently cuts off the air from the fire.
Thanks for the advice.  Pans left on a stove is the no. 1 cause of home
fires, or pretty close to no. 1.  Our neighbor's home caught fire that way.
I had all I could do to keep her from going back in to get the car keys!!!!
The car was parked up close to the front of the house.  I believe it just
lost its headlights which exploded.  Thanks Harv for this timely
information.  Wow!  Pictures sure speak louder than words as to throwing
water on the fire!
Navy
Take out the FISH to email me.

i never heard of the wet towel thing.  good tip.  thanks, harv.  gonna
forward this one.

 i was taught to shut the stove off and put a lid on the flaming pot, if
you can, to smother it.  if you can't get close enough, then a bigger steel
pot with a handle or cookie sheet, but not an aluminum pot/pan or cookie
sheet.  dunno why an aluminum cover to smother it is not a good idea.

kate

Subject: Kitchen Fire Instructions-Good Info

Please read this and watch the video.

This is so  important ... as old as I am I never heard of doing the
wet towel thing... but I  will remember it after seeing this.
Kitchen  Fire Safety  - Good  reminder for everyone.....
This is  a powerful message----watch the video and don't forget
what you see. Tell  your whole family about this video. Or better
yet, send this to them.
This is a dramatic video (30-second, very short) about how to  deal
with a common kitchen fire ... oil in a frying pan. Please read
the  following introduction and then watch the show .. It's a real
eye-opener  !!
At the  Fire   Fighting Training school they would  demonstrate this
with a deep fat fryer set on the fire field. An  instructor would
don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup a t the end of a 10  foot
pole toss water onto the grease fire. The results got the
attention  of the students.
The water, being heavier than the oil, sinks to  the bottom where
it instantly becomes superheated. The explosive force of  the steam
blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it became a
thirty foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast. Inside
the  confines of a kitchen, the fire ball
Hits the ceiling and fills the entire  room.
Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease  fire. One cup
creates the explosive force of two sticks of  dynamite.
Please view this video clip:  _Click link below_

(http://www.ranaldofamily.com/SWF/KitchenOilFire.wmv )

Harv wrote:

Never heard of that.  Looked like something from a fire brigade in the U.K.

We constantly advised cooks to use a pot lid or other metal object to cover
the burning pot.

By the time someone soaked and wrung a towel, they could have placed 2 or 3
things over the pot.

... Firemen are proud of their hoses.