PSA: When using the stove...

[NiteWulf]

I felt kinda hungry, but I didn't really want to eat anything else before I went to bed, so I decided I would have some tea to fill me up. I put maybe a quart of water in the teapot and put it on a medium flame. Then I cleaned the bathroom. Then I surfed the intrawebs. Somewhere I forgot that I was making tea. I think I didn't hear the whistle because I had the exhaust fan in the bathroom on and it wasn't a very loud teapot anyway. It finally came to my attention when the smoke alarm went off. I think I smelled some plastic burning too.

Always prepared, I said "Oh, crap!" and shuffled down the stairs, half expecting to find my teapot melted to the stove. I'm not sure if it's steel or aluminum. My dad has had aluminum coffee percolators melt into an electric stove. I pressed the button on the smoke alarm to turn it off, but by that time my brother was probably already awake. 🙁 I turned off the burner and turned on the fan in the stove hood. Then I went and fanned fresh air at the smoke alarm with a kitchen towel to turn it off again.

Now my white teapot is brown around the bottom half and the plastic on the inside of the flapper thingie where the whistle is is melted. I don't know if I should use the teapot anymore.

The important thing to remember, though, is always keep an eye on the stove! I could have started a fire.


Cliffs:
1. Heated water on stove
2. Forgot about it
3. Ruined(?) teapot
4. Could have started a fire

 

[arcas]

The people living in the house across the street had a house fire a four or five years ago. Turns out their teenage son was home alone one night, started to deep fry some french fries and supposedly went to bed while it was cooking.