# grease spill into oven insulation-fire hazard?



## pybyr (Feb 5, 2012)

I had a can of bacon grease on the cooktop waiting to go into the boiler ... and my fiance accidentally knocked it over as she was cleaning around the kitchen gas cookstove (gas burners/ gas oven) (lesson to self- do not leave cans of grease around).

Much but definitely not all of the grease was caught by the big drawer-like drip tray under the gas burners on top of the range-- but some definitely went over the drip tray and down into an opening in the metal into the fiberglass surrounding the oven-- through an opening by which the thermostat's capillary tube goes down towards the oven.

I have no way of precisely determining how much grease got down into the fiberglass surrounding the gas oven - other than that the fiberglass that I can touch is detectably quite greasy. If I had to make a wild guess based on the size of the can and the amount mopped out of the catch tray I would say probably no more than a cup of grease made it down into the fiberglass around the oven.

My one/ only serious concern is whether or to what extent the grease in the fiberglass represents a fire hazard when using the oven or broiler. I know that the glass fibers of the fiberglass won't burn but my concern is whether it might be like a big "wick" of the grease with air in between the fibers.

I can't afford to buy a new stove... but also can't afford to roll the dice on a fire.

Eagerly appreciate advice and suggestions on how to gauge the risk and/ or any measures I can take to remedy the situation or be able to, with responsible peace of mind, figure out if the risk is low enough to be nil.

Thanks!


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