After a kitchen fire, make sure the fire is fully out, ventilate, photograph the damage, and tell your insurance company and your building. Small fires that stayed in a pan can often be cleaned by hand. If smoke left the kitchen, reached a neighbor, or the smell will not leave, you need professional cleanup.

Lakeview is full of kitchens stacked on top of each other. Courtyard buildings near Belmont, greystone two-flats and three-flats off Southport, and high-rises along the lakefront all share walls, floors, and hallways.

That is true across the North Side, from Wrigleyville to Lincoln Park and Uptown. A fire in one kitchen is rarely one household's problem.

Why are kitchen fires so common?

According to the NFPA, cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, and unattended cooking is the top factor. A pan of oil left on a burner for a few minutes is all it takes.

This week is Fire Prevention Week, which makes it a good time to check the basics: stay in the kitchen while you fry or broil, keep a lid nearby to smother a pan fire, and never put water on burning grease.

Why does a small kitchen fire smell so bad?

Burned food, especially meat and grease, leaves what restorers call protein residue. It is a thin, almost clear film that coats cabinets, walls, and ceilings.

You may not see much soot at all. You will smell it. Protein residue has a sharp odor that clings to paint, gets inside cabinets and drawers, and sinks into anything soft.

Because the film is hard to see, people often paint or wipe lightly and assume the job is done. The smell comes back within days.

Which parts can you handle yourself, and which need a pro?

Use this as a guide. When in doubt, ask for an inspection before you start scrubbing.

For a small pan or oven fire with no visible soot beyond the stove, you may be able to handle the cleanup yourself. Degrease the range, hood, and nearby surfaces, and wash anything that was left out on the counter.

If there was only a light smoke haze that cleared within a few hours and no odor remains, wipe hard surfaces, wash exposed linens, and replace the range hood filter.

If the odor is still present after a few days of airing out, professional smoke and odor removal is a better choice. Lingering odor usually means residue remains on or inside materials.

Visible soot or a yellow film on walls, ceilings, or inside cabinets should also be professionally cleaned. The wrong cleaner can smear residue or make staining harder to remove.

Small amounts of extinguisher powder on hard surfaces may be vacuumed and wiped carefully. If the powder reached appliances, electronics, cabinets, or other rooms, professional cleanup is recommended.

If smoke entered hallways or a neighboring unit, more than one area should be inspected. In a multi-unit building, smoke can travel well beyond the kitchen where the fire started.

If sprinklers or fire hoses were used, water damage restoration should begin promptly. Moisture can move into flooring, walls, ceilings, and the unit below.

If cabinets, walls, wiring, or other building materials actually burned, the loss should be treated as a fire and smoke damage restoration project rather than a simple surface-cleaning job.

If you are cleaning it yourself, where do you start?

For a small fire that stayed at the stove, work in this order. It keeps you from spreading residue to clean surfaces.

1. Let everything cool. Do not move the pan or open the oven until it is cold.
2. Vacuum before you wipe. Pick up loose ash and extinguisher powder dry. Wiping first turns it into a paste.
3. Work from the top down. Degrease the range hood and replace its filter, then the backsplash, cabinet faces, counters, and range.
4. Open the cabinets. Wipe the insides of the ones above and beside the stove, and wash the dishes stored there.
5. Wash what is soft. Towels, curtains, oven mitts, and anything fabric that was in the room.
6. Check again in a few days. If the smell is back or a yellowish film shows up, stop and ask for an inspection.

Hold off on repainting until you are sure the smell is gone. Paint is the last step, never the first.

What is different about a fire in a multi-unit building?

In a Lakeview condo or two-flat, smoke and water do not respect unit lines.

• Smoke rises. It moves up through pipe chases, shared walls, and back stairwells into the units above.
• Water falls. Sprinkler or hose water runs down into the unit below, the garden unit, or the basement.
• Hallways and stairs carry odor. Common areas often need cleaning along with the units.
• There is more than one policy. In a condo, the association's master policy and your unit owner policy usually cover different things. Check your policy and your association's documents.

If you own a condo, call your property manager or board right away. If you rent, call your landlord. If you own the two-flat, let your tenants know and check their unit for smoke.

How do Chicago's older buildings affect cleanup?

Much of Lakeview was built in the early 1900s. Those buildings have plaster walls, original wood trim, and wall and floor cavities that were never sealed between units the way modern buildings are.

Smoke finds those gaps. It is common to find odor in a closet two floors above the kitchen where the fire started.

Older kitchens also tend to have layers: paint over wallpaper, new cabinets over old plaster. Residue can sit behind and above cabinets where a surface wipe never reaches.

What does professional kitchen fire cleanup involve?

1. Inspection. A technician checks the kitchen, adjoining rooms, the HVAC system, and neighboring units if needed.
2. Residue testing. Protein film, grease soot, and extinguisher residue each call for a different cleaner.
3. Degreasing and detail cleaning. Cabinets inside and out, walls, ceilings, appliances, light fixtures, and hardware.
4. Pack-outs and content cleaning. Dishes, cookware, small appliances, and textiles are cleaned. Open food and anything exposed to heat is discarded.
5. Odor removal. Air filtration, hydroxyl treatment, or thermal fogging, depending on the home.
6. Sealing and repair. Stained surfaces are sealed before repainting. Burned cabinets, drywall, and flooring are replaced.

What should you do in the first hour?

• Make sure the fire department has confirmed the fire is out, even if you put it out yourself.
• Open windows if the weather allows.
• Turn off the furnace or air conditioner so smoke is not pulled through the ducts.
• Take photos and video before you clean anything.
• Throw out food that was open or near the heat.
• Tell your building and your insurance company.

Frequently asked questions about kitchen fire cleanup

Can you use the range or oven after a kitchen fire?

Not until it has been checked. Heat and extinguisher residue can affect wiring, gas connections, and controls that you cannot see. Have an appliance technician look at it before you cook again.

How do you clean up fire extinguisher powder?

Vacuum it first, then wipe. The powder is very fine and travels farther than you expect, so check inside cabinets, behind appliances, and in the next room. Have any electronics or appliances that were dusted looked at before you use them.

Can kitchen cabinets be saved after a fire?

Often, if they were not burned or warped by heat. Solid wood and well-sealed finishes usually clean up. Swollen particle board and blistered finishes usually mean replacement. Residue above and behind the cabinets has to be cleaned either way.

Who handles cleanup in a neighbor's unit?

That depends on the policies involved, which can include yours, your neighbor's, and the association's. Report the fire to your own insurance company and your building, and let them sort out who covers what. We do not interpret policy coverage or act as a public adjuster.

What should you tell your property manager or landlord?

Share which units and common areas had smoke, whether sprinklers or an extinguisher were used, and your photos. It helps them decide which other units need to be checked.

Kitchen fire cleanup help in Lakeview

A kitchen fire leaves more behind than a burned pan, and the smell is usually the sign that residue is still there. ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons is an IICRC Certified Firm (#163465), and Sam Simon is an IICRC Master Fire and Smoke Restorer. If your Lakeview kitchen still smells like smoke, contact our team, available 24/7, to schedule an inspection.