The Manhattan Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire at the Flint Hills Job Corps Center, located 4620 Eureka Drive, on Saturday evening around 7:30 p.m. Upon arrival, crews found that thankfully the building was equipped with a fire sprinkler system that had extinguished the fire leaving $2500 in damage. Without the fire sprinkler system, the damage could have been much worse. The cause was found to be an unattended pan of grease catching fire on the stove, a fire cause that firefighters in Manhattan know all too well.

“The leading of cause of residential fires in Manhattan and across the nation continues to be from unattended cooking,” said Manhattan Fire Chief Scott French. “It only takes a second to leave the kitchen to check on something in another room, and when you come back your stove and kitchen cabinets are on fire.”

Thanksgiving is the day that has the highest number of home cooking fires nationally, followed by Christmas Day, with unattended cooking being the leading factor according to the National Fire Protection Agency.