Scary Sunday

Originally posted on 26 August 2007.

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Today, I got one of the biggest scares of my life. I woke up pretty late, and was hurrying to get something cooked so I could eat, as I also woke up hungry. I went to the kitchen, took some sausages out of the freezer, got the frying pan on the stove, put in some oil, turned on the stove to high heat, then threw in the sausages. I knew when I did that, it was going to sizzle, because, well, I didn't thaw the meat and the pan was very hot, so I backed away from the stove as far as I could. And sizzle it did. Smoke started to come out of the pan, too. I thought I should probably turn the heat off or set it to medium for a little bit, just for the smoke to go away, but the oil was sizzling so ferociously I didn't want to get near the pan. I decided to wait for the sizzling to let up. Then, from where I was standing, a good four feet away, I saw that the fire under the pan was beginning to crackle. I thought, for a second, the pan would catch fire, but then I thought that wasn't possible. And the moment I thought that, fire, about 6 to 7 inches, suddenly leapt out from the pan. For a second or two, I just stared at it, unable to think. It seemed all thought had left me. When thought returned, it was, "God, I'm going to die."

I suppose I thought of more than that though, because the next thing I did was run to the stove and turn the burner off. When it did not put out the fire, I took the pan out of the stove and threw it on the floor. The sausages jumped off, the pan hit the floor, then almost immediately, the fire went out. I suppose, while all this was going on, I called out to my flatmate in what would be described as a terrified voice, because she rushed out, alarmed. When she got to the kitchen though, the fire was already out, and I was standing there, shaking, and still unable to believe what just happened. I still don't know how the fire died just like that. I threw the pan on the floor, because I needed to find some cloth to put the fire out with and didn't think I could do that while holding the pan at the same time. I didn't know it would make the fire go out. Whatever. I'm just glad it turned out to be the right thing to do.

I can still see the events of the afternoon in my head, and the whole thing still scares me. The lesson? I'm not really sure. I just know, beginning today, I'd thaw frozen meat before I fry it, and go with low to medium heat. And if I wake up hungry, I'd go have cereals first.