Limbrick Street woman safe after grease fire

A grease fire that got away has gutted a kitchen on the main floor of a Limbrick Street row house.

No one was hurt in the blaze, said district chief Dave Nelson of the Vickers Street Fire Station.

“We got a call to come here to Block E on Limbrick Street,” Nelson said. “Upon arrival there was smoke showing. Apparently a lady here was doing some deep frying and it got away on her. It gutted pretty much the interior of the main floor. There was heavy smoke damage to the second floor as well.”

Nelson said he believes the woman was the only person home at the time the fire broke out.
It was the second grease fire of the day for members of the Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue Service.

Earlier in the afternoon firefighters responded to a similar call on Melvin Street in Thunder Bay’s north end.

A man was sent to hospital in that incident, suffering from unspecified burns to his arm. Firefighters at the scene said a pot of oil caught fire and the victim was injured trying to put the fire out.

Nelson said anyone cooking with oil should beware of just how quickly things can get out of hand.

“Be careful. When you’re using hot grease, it can get away from you in a moment. I know this lady here said it just flashed over on her in a second and it was too late to get to the element to actually turn it off,” Nelson said.

“Just be careful with it, more than anything else, and refrain from doing it if you don’t necessarily have to do it.”

About six pumper units and 25 firefighters responded to the Limbrick Street blaze.