Arsonist!!

The other day I decided to cook. We'd run out of suitable cooking oil, so I mixed walnut oil and sesame oil in the wok and turned the heat on.

And sort of drifted back to the laptop to order indoor fireworks for Christmas.

And looked up five minutes later to see flames reaching towards the little cupboard over the cooker ...

The irony isn't lost on me....

Contemplating the flames and a possible a solution, I decided against the smother with a teatowel trick as I didn't want to burn myself. This was just as well, as I'd forgotten the teatowel should be first soaked in water - flinging a dry cloth over flames ... dear oh dear...

Eventually, I carefully carried the blazing wok through the sitting room and out of the back door, coughing with the choking fumes from the pyrolising non-stick, but at least the flames were reducing pretty quickly. I dumped the wok upside down outside, and the last of the flames went out. I was reminded later that opening the back door could have fanned the flames back on to me... The whole of downstairs was full of gray smoke.

I have no heat or smoke alarm, no fire blanket and no extinguisher.

Although this ended ok - apart from cleaning the greasy blackened area behind the cooker, and the wall cupboards above - a ghastly, as-yet unfinished job which smears further and further as I try to scrub it - it's horribly easy to see how this can happen, and get out of hand.

Please don't try this at home.