CALGARY – Officials are hoping residents like the tune of the Calgary Fire Department's new public service announcement and learn something at the same time.

The CFD released a video this week called Stand By Your Pan, their own take on American country singer Tammy Wynette's 1968 hit.

The video is aimed at reminding homeowners to pay attention while cooking in the kitchen to prevent fires.

In it, many members of the fire department are seen dancing and lip syncing along to the song, which has modified lyrics to match the message.

"Stand by your pan; And keep your fries from burning," the song recites. "You don't want to burn your hands."

According to the CFD, cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires in North America.

The message comes just a day after firefighters were called to a northeast townhome to extinguish a small fire that broke out in the kitchen.

Officials say crews were called to the scene, in the 400 block of 64 Avenue N.E., at about 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday after a passerby noticed smoke coming from the home.

Two adults and a two-week-old infant managed to safely escape from the home prior to the fire department's arrival. All three were not hurt in the incident.

The home, which did not have working smoke alarms, sustained damage inside the kitchen and smoke damage throughout the unit.

Before that fire, firefighters were also called to a home in southeast Calgary on Saturday evening after a similar fire inside the kitchen.

A mother and her baby were able to get out safely and were not injured.

While those most recent incidents resulted in no one being injured, cooking fires can be very dangerous, especially when people use oil to prepare food.

Earlier this year, a teenager suffered third-degree burns in a cooking fire inside a northwest Calgary home.

Riley Smith, 15, had picked up a pot of burning oil in an attempt to get it out of the house when he spilled it down the stairs of his home and all over himself in the process.

The fire department says they respond to cooking fires every single day and officials remind homeowners to always pay attention while cooking.

  • Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, boiling, grilling or broiling food. Turn off the burner if you leave the kitchen for any reason.
  • Always keep a lid nearby when you are cooking. If a small grease fire starts in a pan, smother the flames by sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner. Do not move the pan. To keep the fire from restarting, leave the lid on until the pan has cooled.
  • Never pour water on a cooking pan grease fire.
  • Never discharge a portable fire extinguisher into a grease fire because it will spread the fire.
  • When in doubt, just get out! When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain the fire. After you leave, call 9-1-1 from a cell phone or a neighbor's telephone.
  • Ensure you have functional smoke alarms on every level of your home, test them annually and replace them every 10 years.

For more fire safety information, you can go to the CFD's website.