The Airdrie Fire Department says an automatic sprinkler system extinguished a kitchen fire earlier this week in a commercial building and has shared a reminder about cooking safety.

Fire Chief Mike Pirie wrote in a social media post on Thursday that fire crews were called on Tuesday, Oct. 7, to a structure fire in a two-story commercial building on Kingsview Boulevard.

“On arrival, fire crews determined that the sprinkler system, located in a second-floor kitchen area, had activated and extinguished a fire which had been burning in a cooking pan left unattended on a stovetop,” Pirie wrote.

He said there were no staff or customers in the building at the time of the incident.

The department reminded residents to:

• Never leave cooking unattended and stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling, broiling or boiling food.
• Turn off the stove and remove the pot from the burner if you need to leave the room.
• Use dry oven mitts and potholders to prevent scalding or burns.
• Use the stove’s back burners whenever possible and turn pot handles inward to reduce the risk of pots being knocked over.
• Keep potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils and other combustible items away from the front and top of the stove.
• Clean food and grease residue from the oven and stovetop once cooled.