Free home safety tool
Kitchen fire risk check
A two-minute check for your own kitchen or a parent's. Answer 14 short questions. Each one is a cooking fire risk factor named by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) or the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). You get a count of the factors found, one step for each, and a plan you can print.
Your answers stay on this device. This page does not send, save or track them.
Sources read in October 2026. Updated October 19, 2026.
The check
Answer for the person who does most of the cooking. If you are not sure, pick “Not sure” where it is offered. It counts as found, because the step is the same: go and check.
Cooking habits
1. Does the cook ever leave the kitchen while a burner is on, even for a minute?
2. Does the cook fry food in oil on the stovetop?
3. Does the cook ever use the stove when sleepy, after drinking alcohol, or after taking a medicine that causes drowsiness?
4. Does the cook wear loose or long, flowing sleeves at the stove?
The person who cooks
5. Is the cook 65 or older?
6. Does the cook have memory problems, such as dementia, or often forget that food is cooking?
7. Does the cook have hearing loss, or take hearing aids out to sleep?
8. Does the cook live alone?
The kitchen and home
9. Are oven mitts, towels, paper, food packaging, wooden spoons or curtains kept close to the stovetop?
10. Is a lid that fits the pan, or a baking sheet, within reach whenever someone cooks?
11. Does anyone smoke inside the home?
Alarms and equipment
12. Is there a smoke alarm on the same floor as the kitchen that sounded when it was tested in the last month?
NFPA advises keeping it at least 10 feet (3 meters) from the stove.
13. Has a smoke alarm been taken down, unplugged, or had its battery removed because cooking set it off?
14. Does the home have a gas stove but no carbon monoxide (CO) alarm?
Kitchen fire safety plan
From the free Kitchen Fire Risk Check at stovyn.com/kitchen-fire-risk-check
Checked on October 26, 2026.
Your plan
0 of 14 risk factors found
0 of 14 questions answered.
- Cooking habits
- 0 of 4
- The person who cooks
- 0 of 4
- The kitchen and home
- 0 of 3
- Alarms and equipment
- 0 of 3
If a pan catches fire
Slide a lid over the pan and turn off the burner. Leave the lid on until the pan is completely cool. Never throw water on it. If the fire does not go out, or you are not sure: get out, close the door behind you, and call 911 from outside.
Source: NFPA, Safety with cooking equipment (nfpa.org/education-and-research/home-fire-safety/cooking)
Answer the questions above. Your plan builds here as you go.
Only the plan prints. To save it as a file, choose “Save as PDF” in the print window.
How this check works
Each question matches a risk factor named by NFPA, USFA or CPSC. Most come from NFPA's cooking safety page and Home Cooking Fires report, and from the USFA booklet Fire Safety for Older Adults. The steps come from the same agencies. The step for memory problems comes from the National Institute on Aging. Every step links to the page it came from, and the full list is below.
The result is a count, not a score. These factors are not equal, and there is no tested formula for adding them up, so the check does not turn them into a percent or a number out of 100. A count of 2 is not proof of a safe kitchen. It means 2 steps are on your plan.
The 10-foot smoke alarm distance is NFPA's advice for keeping alarms away from the stove. It follows NFPA 72, the national fire alarm code, which keeps smoke alarms out of a 10-foot zone around a cooking appliance, with narrow exceptions for alarms listed to resist cooking nuisance alarms (UL Standards & Engagement). Your state or city decides which edition applies.
One limit: this check covers common cooking fire factors, not every hazard in a home. It is not a home inspection. Wiring, heating and escape routes need their own look, and your fire department can help with that. For the basics, see our 12-point kitchen safety checklist, and for a pan that is already burning, read how to put out a grease fire.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a fire risk score?
No. It counts the risk factors that NFPA, USFA and CPSC name, and gives one step for each. There is no tested formula that turns these factors into a percent, so we do not make one up. The count tells you how many steps are on your plan, not how likely a fire is.
Are my answers sent or saved anywhere?
No. The check runs in your browser. Your answers are not sent, saved or tracked, and they are gone when you close or reload the page. The site counts page visits, but that count does not include anything you pick or type here.
Can I do this check for a parent or someone I care for?
Yes. The questions say “the cook” so you can answer for anyone. It works best if you answer together in their kitchen, then print the plan and go through the steps with them.
What should we fix first?
Start with smoke alarms. NFPA found the death rate in home fires was about 60 percent lower with working smoke alarms (2018 to 2022 data). Next, look at leaving the stove. Unattended equipment is a factor in half of home cooking fire deaths (NFPA, 2020 to 2024 data).
Can the fire department help?
Often, yes. USFA says your local fire department may be able to visit your home to install smoke alarms and answer questions. Call its non-emergency number to ask. NFPA notes that fire departments often offer hands-on fire extinguisher training too.
Should there be a fire extinguisher in the kitchen?
CPSC says to keep one in the kitchen and to make sure you have the right type and training. NFPA says to use one only on a small fire that is not growing, after everyone is out and the fire department has been called, and to mount it near an exit. For a pan fire, a lid comes first. Getting out always comes first.
A note from the people who made this check
We make Stovyn, a stove monitor. A thermal sensor above the cooktop gives an early heat alert at the stove and on a phone when a burner is left on or a pan gets too hot. It does not shut the stove off, and it does not replace smoke or CO alarms. If memory problems are on your plan, a shut-off switch comes first. It is a pre-order and ships December 20, 2026. You do not need it to use this check or follow your plan. Read our guide to stove safety for elderly parents, or see the product page.
Sources
- · NFPA, Safety with cooking equipment (2020 to 2024 data)
- · NFPA, Home Cooking Fires report (2017 to 2021 data)
- · NFPA, Smoke alarms
- · NFPA, Smoke Alarms in US Home Fires report (2018 to 2022 data)
- · NFPA, Safety tips for older adults
- · NFPA, Carbon monoxide safety
- · NFPA, Fire extinguishers
- · NFPA Journal, Fire safety in the United States since 1980 (August 16, 2021)
- · USFA, Fire Safety for Older Adults (FA-221, October 2018)
- · USFA, Fire Risk to Older Adults in 2010 (Topical Fire Report, August 2013)
- · USFA, Cooking fire safety
- · CPSC, Recipe for safer cooking
- · CPSC, Carbon monoxide questions and answers
- · National Institute on Aging, Tips for living alone with early-stage dementia
- · UL Standards & Engagement, NFPA 72 smoke alarm placement near cooking appliances
This check is general safety information, not a home inspection or medical advice. Statistics are national U.S. averages from the sources listed, read in October 2026. Your answers are not sent, saved or tracked. NFPA, USFA, CPSC and the National Institute on Aging did not review this tool and do not endorse any product.
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