[mindcrime]

A small amount of water causes the burning oil to flare and spread. A large amount of water extinguishes the fire.

Interestingly enough, while we've all been taught "never use water on an oil fire", this is actually pretty similar to real life. Generally speaking, using water on a flammable liquids fire will just spread the fire and make it worse. But if the fire is small enough and the application rate of the water is sufficient, you can sometimes extinguish such a fire with water.

Note: do NOT take this as advice to ever try to extinguish a kitchen fire or something like that with water. When I talk about "application rate" above, I'm thinking of the 100+ gallons per minute you get from a 1-3/4" (or larger) handline from a fire engine. If your frying pan catches on fire, call 911 and then use a class B rated fire extinguisher, or smother the fire by putting a lid on the container. If you have any doubts whatsoever about your ability to extinguish the fire, exit the structure and let the fire department handle it.

[BenjiWiebe]

For an oil fire in the kitchen, use baking soda.

[mindcrime]

Baking soda can work, but it can take quite a lot of it. Depending on how big the fire is, you might not have enough in your kitchen. It may also be packed away in a cabinet somewhere out of reach. Of course the same might be true of the fire extinguisher as well... :-(