The Murdoch Road resident had been at a neighbour’s home on Saturday night when he realised he had left oil cooking.

He went back inside the property and found it alight and put a fire blanket on the pot and picked it up, but dropped it on the floor.

Flames burnt the floor and the man’s hands and caused smoke damage to the kitchen.

Wangaratta senior station officer Ian Lilley said it was common for people to pick up burning cookware, which caused further problems.

“They try to get them out of the kitchen, but it makes things worse,” he said.

Mr Lilley said it was best to turn off the heat source, put a lid on the pot and leave it while firefighters attend.

“Just put the lid back on, leave it in situ, call the fire brigade and wait,” he said. 

It followed a similar incident last Tuesday where a kitchen and ceiling were burnt after oil was left cooking at a Thurgoona home. 

There was smoke damage throughout the Kosciuszko Road house. 

Firefighters forced entry but the kitchen was extensively damaged.