Just as cooking shows draw large and dedicated audiences on network television, cooking streams are an incredibly popular category on Twitch. Unlike more professional productions, however, the people cooking on the streaming platform are not necessarily experts with the requisite training and equipment. This is when potentially dangerous situations can arise, all in front of a Twitch audience who can’t do much to help.

In the past, there have been some onscreen catastrophes captured on Twitch. These have for the most part involved burglaries, swatting incidents, and even earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. Sometimes the incidents are not too severe and can be joked about afterwards, such as when Twitch streamer Woofy caught her hair on fire, presumably due to the presence of hairspray and a nearby burning candle.

Other situations with fire are not always so easily dismissed. On Wednesday, Twitch content creator Kjanecaron was holding a subathon and decided to stream herself cooking. Things soon began to go off the rails, as her kitchen filled with smoke and the atmosphere generally felt a bit chaotic. Soon, however, things got even worse as the fire alarm began sounding and the grease in Kjanecaron’s frying pan burst into flames. The YouTube clip of the incident can be viewed here, but be aware that there is some offensive language.

Kjanecaron’s immediate reaction was to put the flaming pan into a sink with water, which only caused the fire to grow larger. Thankfully, she quickly realized her mistake and moved the pan back to the stovetop, where it eventually burned itself out after one panic-filled minute. The entire time, Kjanecaron was calling for help and pointing out that she didn’t have a fire extinguisher. Luckily, the streamer’s house did not catch fire and the situation resolved itself with minimal damage.

While many in the audience and those viewing the clip afterward have joked about the accident and even mocked Kjanecaron, the situation could quickly have gotten serious. According to the National Fire Protection Association, cooking accidents are the leading cause of house fires. One of the biggest mistakes people make in a panic is attempt to extinguish a grease fire with water, which is extremely dangerous and can cause the fire to explode outward, where it can land on towels, cabinets, and wooden utensils. Of course, all homes should have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, but barring that, grease fires should be put out by smothering them with a pan lid, for example.

While doing cooking streams on Twitch or other platforms might attract viewers, it’s not always a good idea if proper safety precautions aren’t taken. Many streamers are already distracted, due to the multitasking required to read and respond to chat while also performing whatever activity they’re broadcasting. For some people, it might be a better idea to play a cooking sim instead and save the real-life meal prep for when the cameras are off.

Source: NFPA