Echoing . . . professional services and contacting the insurance company may be the best bet.
Otherwise . . . TSP and baking soda and/or steam cleaning to clean off "soft" surfaces like laundry, couch, carpeting, etc. Airing out the house . . .
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I know I should be good and not "lecture" . . . and I am sure the poor girl has already received a million lectures already . . . but in the interest of public safety and possibly preventing a future injury from readers here . . .
100,000 cooking fires each year . . . mostly from cooking with grease on the stove top.
Interesting fact: (At least for me): Day with the most cooking fires in the U.S. = Thanksgiving (perhaps not surprisingly).
Interesting fact #2: More cooking fires occur with electric ranges vs. gas ranges.
Biggest way to prevent cooking fires from occuring = watch what you cook. I tell folks that while it is a good idea to watch the water you are boiling for spaghetti or the cookies in the oven, it is far, far more important to be in the kitchen to monitor the cooking if you are frying up anything (eggs, hamburger, bacon, french fries, etc.) instead of "maximizing" your time by cleaning the house, watching TV, reading the latest posts on hearth.com, etc. If you are in the kitchen and the food starts to catch on fire and starts smoking you can react quickly and turn down the heat and prevent a fire . . . vs. not noticing things until the fire has ignited the upper cabinets on fire.
Best way to extinguish a cooking fire on the stove . . . and it's not to use an extinguisher, believe it or not . . . use a tight-fitting lid and cover the pan, turn off the heat and let it sit there for 5-15 minutes to cool down before removing the lid. Removing the lid too soon can result in a fire if there is still sufficient heat and a fuel source -- putting the lid on it only removes the oxygen, so taking off the lid can reintroduce the oxygen and then you're back to Square 1 . . . minus the burned eyebrows. If you're like me and have lids, but they're buried in the back cabinets somewhere use a cookie sheet or other similar item to completely cover the top of the pan.
Things not to do:
You know that water spigot that looks like a fire hose beside the sink? Don't use it . . . unless you want to live dangerously and see just how high you can make the flames shoot up.
Smother the pan with a dish cloth . . . some folks say you can use a wet dish towel . . . personally I'm not a fan of putting anything combustible on a fire regardless of whether it is wet or not . . . mostly because folks forget the important part about it being wet.
Dump it down the sink . . . chances of it splashing up when it hits the sink.
Throw it out the window and start the neighbor's lawn on fire . . . that one was a classic . . . I still like telling folks in my classes about the person that did this.
The thing most people do wrong . . . attempt to move it outside and they take the pan for a guided tour in the house as they walk it from the kitchen to the dining room into the living room, down the hall, on to the covered porch and then outside . . . problem is a) they grab hold of the pan, take a few steps and realize it's wicked hot and they drop the flaming pan of grease on the kitchen floor, b) they use an oven mitt so they don't get burned, grab hold of the pan, take a few steps and realize as they are walking briskly towards the front door that the flames are heading towards their shirt and they don't want to die a fiery death so they drop the pan of flaming liquids on to the dining room floor or c) they use an oven mitt and hold the pan away from them so their clothing doesn't catch on fire and in the process of giving the pan a tour of the house they end up spilling the liquid all over the house in a neat trail of fire from the kitchen to the front door.
What about baking soda? Baking soda is the most common chemical in the BC-rated fire extinguishers which are commonly sold as home kitchen fire extinguishers (often painted white with the big ol' words KITCHEN FIRE EXTINGUISHER on the side). Baking soda will work, but a) your hand may be right above the flames which could be flaring up, b) if you haven't used the baking soda in a while it may be coming out in chunks which can drop into the pan and splash flaming liquid out on to the floor, counter, you, etc., c) people panic and remember there is something white in the house that can put out grease fires but they cannot remember if it is baking soda or baking powder . .. or sugar . . . or salt . . . or cocaine . . . salt will not be all that bad . . . but throw fine flour on a fire in the right air to flour ratio (and it's not all that hard to do) and you can catch the grains of flour all on fire at the same time and sometimes even cause a mini explosion (something to try at your next bon fire . . . and yes, I am kidding) . . . plus d) if you use baking soda on the chicken that you were frying the meal is ruined, but if you use the pan method you can save the meal by telling everyone you opted to make Cajun blackened chicken.
What about extinguishers? Sure . . . but only as a last resort. They are expensive to recharge, make one helluva mess in the kitchen . . . not to mention there is a small possibility of things going from bad to worse if you blow the fire on to the floor.
OK, enough rambling . . . sorry . . . sometimes what I do in the real world bleeds through here . . . it is more than work to me . . . it is my passion.
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P.S. Glad to hear things worked out well for the girl and family though . . . it may not seem like it . . .but this truly had a happy ending.
