'Heartbreaking': Edmonton woman recalls losing her home in a grease fire

An Edmonton woman is warning people about the dangers of grease fires after she lost her home and four of her pets last week.

Ricki Hallock decided to make french fries for dinner on Friday evening, something she says she has done hundreds of times.

"I put oil on the stove to heat up and I was peeling potatoes for french fries. And all of a sudden, my pot was smoking. And it just lit on fire," Hallock told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

She says it only took moments for the fire to get out of control.

"The flames were in the pot going up to the [stove] hood. That's when we called 911. And then it moved over to the wall."

Hallock and her family got outside safely, but two of her cats ran back inside the house.

"They ran back in the house because that's their safe space, and when you've got so many people outside, lights flashing, sirens going, it scares them."

Four of her five cats died as a result of the fire.

"Within 10 minutes our cats were gone. The fire was almost out, it was smoking but they had it almost out. It was very long."

Her house was destroyed.

Ricki Hallock's home was destroyed by a grease fire on Jan. 5, 2024. (Credit: Ricki Hallock)

"Heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking. I loved this house. I've been in it for almost a year. When I first walked into it, I felt at home for the first time in a really long time."

She says she's now staying in a hotel and has nowhere to go. She doesn't have insurance.

"We're desperately trying to find somewhere to go now."

"We're working with Hope Mission and they're going to try and help us get into a place."

A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help the family.

WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF A GREASE FIRE

Troy Lymburner, an instructor at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Culinary Arts Department, says grease fires are more dangerous than any other type of kitchen fire.

"The worst thing you can do to a grease fire is to pour water on it," he said on Thursday. "As soon as it goes into the hot oil it vaporizes, turns into steam, and essentially explodes and it sprays hot oil all over the kitchen, all over the people anybody who happens to be around."

"Very, very dangerous, deadly type of fire."

Lymburner says if you're cooking with grease, you should take precautions.

"Make sure that you keep an eye on the temperature if you're heating up oil."

"Don't walk away from it. Don't forget about it, invest in an instant-read thermometer. This way you can keep track of how hot the oil is actually getting. Once the oil reaches a certain point, it will just ignite a flashover, and that's when it becomes very dangerous."

If you do experience a fire, take the appropriate steps to put it out.

"The best way to deal with grease fires is to smother it. That includes a cloth or even baking soda."

And if the fire gets out of control, get out.

"We always tell our students, even with fire extinguishers, that is your last line of defence. The fire extinguisher is just to aid your evacuation out of danger."

"That's why we have insurance, but you can't replace people or pets."

Hallock says she's a former 911 dispatcher and knew how to put out a grease fire, but in the moment she panicked.

Ricki Hallock's home was destroyed by a grease fire on Jan. 5, 2024. (Credit: Ricki Hallock)

She's sharing her story in hopes of preventing the same thing from happening to anyone else while cooking.

"It's something I've done a million times, it wasn't something I was new to. It just went up so fast. It's something we should all be thinking about."

Edmonton Fire Rescue Services say it responded to 118 kitchen fires in 2023, causing 17 injuries and $3.1 million in damage.

For more fire safety tips while cooking, visit the Edmonton Fire Rescue Services website.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Adel Ahmed