Many small fires can be put out safely and be prevented from becoming big fires if you don't panic
and know what to do - and I don't think for domestic situations that involves deciding which of your four different fire extinguishers to use.
I was the fire officer for a three storey laboratory building for many years and we only had three fires that I can remember, all small and put out by quick thinking and unconventional means that would have the health and safety people quaking, but we knew what we were doing and none of them got as far as setting off the smoke detectors.
We had three or four false alarms each year where we couldn't identify the cause but still managed to evacuate the building in less than three minutes thanks to good planning and training, and you can do that at home
http://www.kent.fire-uk.org/your_safety/fire_safety.aspx
Best way with chip pan fires - don't have a chip pan
