An explosive start to the New Year...

I am thanking my lucky stars that the circuit breaker tripped at the exact right moment. I have a new appreciation for the power of electricity and it's potential for damage.

Last night as I was starting to make dinner, I preheated the oven and pulled out the under-stove drawer to grab a cookie sheet for the tater tots. (not the healthiest side dish but get past it) As I riffled through the stack of cookie sheets, one must have slipped out the back of the drawer. I picked the one I wanted and closed the drawer.

Loud BANG!!! Sparks flying out from under the oven followed by black, stinky smoke. I quickly stomped on the sparks covering the floor in front of the oven and whisked Kristen out of the kitchen. I returned to assess the damage. I opened a window for the smoke then calmly responded to Kristen's inquiries about smoke and firetrucks and eating out and are we going to die. I noticed the stove panel had gone dark. I admit I started worrying that I had broken the stove but I pushed that out of my mind to focus on the bigger picture.

There were no more sparks and the smoke seemed to be subsiding so I decided not to call the fire department. I pulled the drawer out completely and was horrified to find the quantity of dust and debris I had let accumulate under the stove. Once again...focus on the big picture, Nance.

I saw that a cookie sheet had fallen behind the drawer and hypothesized that when I had closed the drawer I must have jammed the sheet into the electrical socket located against the wall. Ok, here's where I get really stupid. I worried that I should not touch the offending cookie sheet because even though it was no longer in contact with the electrical outlet(that was no longer capable of powering the oven lights) it might still be "charged". I reasoned (and I use that word liberally) that I could scoot it out with a wooden salad tong.

Shockingly (ha ha), I removed the tray without electrocuting myself and thoroughly cleaned out the area under the stove. The tray sustained fatal injuries from the incident. In addition to being charred, the metal along the spot that made contact with the socket was mangled.


I calmed myself a bit. I had not blown up the house. I was ready to address the oven situation. I headed downstairs for the moment of truth. The circuit breaker had been tripped and I was able to "un-trip" it and power up the stove. Dinner was saved.

The moral of the story...don't overfill your under-oven drawer, make sure you keep the area under the stove free of dust/spark tinder, and verify the circuit breaker has been tripped BEFORE investigating the cause of the "explosion".