Why does adding water to an oil fire make it exponentially worse?
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Oil only burns on the surface and at temperatures much higher than 100°C. When you pour water on it, it splashes in the oil and then almost instantly evaporates, so now you have a ton of gas inside the oil, which wants to rise up and escape. That rising water vapor will aerosolize the oil, cresting a ton of super hot oil droplets in the air. Those droplets have a much higher surface area than the oil previously had. These droplets are hot enough to ignite, cresting a fireball in the air above the oil.
This can even happen if the oil is just heated enough, not even burning yet.
To put out an oil fire, use a fire extinguisher rated for class B (or preferably class K) fires. You can also cover the fire with a lid if it hasn’t gotten too out of control yet. Baking soda on the fire also works well. Other kitchen powders (like flour) won’t work. Flour is extremely combustible.
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