YAKIMA, Wash. -- Hot cooking oil in a wok is blamed for starting a fire that ignited nearby cabinets and was growing fast when the first firefighters arrived Friday evening.

The fire began shortly before 8 p.m. at a home in the 1400 block of Fairbanks Avenue, according to a news release from the Yakima Fire Department.

A woman living in the home told firefighters that she had placed the cooking oil on the stove to warm up and had left the room for a few seconds when the fire started, according to the release.

She and her two daughters escaped and called 9-1-1. Firefighters said they spent about a half hour knocking down the fire and clearing smoke from the building. The occupants were then able to return to the building.

Firefighters said it was the second fire this week blamed on oil heating in a wok. Firefighters urges residents to never leave anything cooking on the stove and leave the room.

-- Yakima Herald-Republic staff