Gas stove explodes in woman's home, son suffers second-degree burns

The kitchen is a very scary place for children to be, and in fact, should be out-of-bounds for all little ones. Parents take extra care in ensuring everything in the kitchen is placed high above beyond children’s reach and there are no exposed knives around. However, despite all the precautions put into place, accidents still happen.

Gas stove explodes, two-year-old gets second-degree burns

In a very graphic Facebook post, a mother recounts an incident that happened in her home. On August 18 2018, the gas stove in Stella Chong’s kitchen exploded. Her two-year-old son was in the kitchen with her when it happened.

According to her post, she was cooking tea on the gas stove, which is reinforced with tempered glass. “I was washing dishes and cutting fruits, when I heard the sound of glass shattering,” she wrote in Mandarin.

Hot water had spilled all over the floor and there was glass everywhere.

“I wanted to get my kid out of there right away, but it was too late.” Her son had already slipped and fell into the hot water, causing his second-degree burns.

She rushed the boy straight to the hospital where doctors told her that 30% of his body had suffered from second-degree burns. When they treated him at the hospital, he was crying in pain.

Stella herself only got small injuries on her foot, which she treated with essential oils. But her pain went beyond her burned foot. “Every time I close my eyes, I can see the accident over and over again,” she wrote.

Her son was hospitalized for a week but the wounds had already begun healing.

But she ends her post with a solemn warning to all parents not to use reinforced tempered glass on their gas stoves.

See her full post below: 

Are tempered glass gas stoves safe?

Stella’s warning might send some parents into a frenzy, but is there much to worry about if you have been using a tempered glass gas stove all this while?

Tempered glass, or toughened glass, has replaced the older, borosilicate glass in many kitchen appliances. Many manufacturers have switched to this tempered glass because it lasts longer and is more impact and heat resistant.

However, tempered glass is not totally unbreakable. Tempered glass can be broken if it is improperly installed, or if there has been damage to the outer surface of the glass. It can also break if there is too much weight (overloading) on the glass, or if there are extreme changes in atmospheric conditions.

So, while Stella’s case is one that is super scary, it is uncommon for tempered glass gas stoves to implode the way hers did.

But as we read from her story, none of the injuries sustained was due to the glass shattering. Rather, it was from the hot water that spilled from the stove.

How to keep tempered glass gas stove from shattering

Since tempered glass gas stoves is one of the most common stove-tops we use at home, you might also be wondering how to protect your stove top from shattering.

There are ways to keep your tempered glass gas stoves from shattering that you can consider doing at home.

1. Don’t cover the glass top

Some people get fussy about oil splashing onto the glass top when cooking. But that’s the whole point of cooking! Things are bound to get messy. Glass tops are super easy to clean and can usually be done with a wet cloth. Covering the glass top risk the heat getting trapped in and increasing the chances of it shattering.

2. Don’t use oversized pots and pans

Make sure to always use the right sized pots and pans, as well as kitchenware made with the appropriate materials.Certain materials like cast iron or stainless steel can trap the heat between the bottom of the pan and the glass surface. You can damage the hob if you don’t, which can also risk the hob cracking.

3. Don’t put hot pots or pans directly on the glass surface

There is a risk even when putting pots and pans that aren’t hot on the pan, due to the weight. When it is hot, it poses an even bigger risk of shattering the glass.

Reference: Spring Singapore