Insurance: Why not to throw water on a cooking oil fire...

This video, which we noticed via State Farm's Twitter feed, illustrates pretty graphically why it's a very bad idea to try to put out a kitchen grease fire by throwing water on it.

The video recommends snuffing out a pan fire by soaking a wet towel, wringing it out, and then laying it on top of the pan. And this apparently works, as you'll see in the video. As State Farm noted, many firefighters recommend a simpler move: covering the burning pan with a lid.

The key lesson of the video, however is this: DO NOT THROW WATER on an oil fire.

Happy Fire Safety Week.