Emergency services rushed to the scene after the fire broke out on the home’s stovetop just after 4pm.

Bathurst Fire and Rescue NSW station officer Sandy Collins said around 56 per cent of all residential fires across the state begin in the kitchen.

“Unattended cooking is where most of these fires start,” he said.

Station officer Collins said it was all too easy to become distracted when cooking, especially if the phone rang, the television was on, or children needed attending to.

“The phone can ring and then you go and get busy and forget about the cooking,” he said.

Station officer Collins said using a timer for cooking could be a reminder that food was on the stove or in the oven.

“If you’ve got a pot on the cusp of boiling, it can happen very quickly,” he said.

Water should never be put on a kitchen fire as it will increase the size of the blaze.

“If you’ve got boiling oil and water hits it, it’ll turn to steam and expand and you’ll have a fireball that big,” station officer Collins said.

“By putting water on it, you’ll spread the fire and it will turn from a pot on fire to your whole kitchen on fire.

“Do not run with the pot or try and move it into the sink or outside.”

If a fire does occur in the kitchen, station officer Collins said the power source should be switched off and a fire blanket put on the burning pot.

Triple-0 should then be called and all occupants of the property should wait outside for the fire service.

Station officer Collins said a working smoke alarm was extremely important.

Smoke alarms should be installed in the living area and in the hallway near bedrooms – not in the kitchen.

The smoke alarm closest to the kitchen should be a photoelectric type, which is less prone to false alarms caused by cooking.