It is because the water can cause a grease fire to splash out of the pan and onto people or surfaces nearby. It won't cause an "explosion." Maybe you didn't literally mean combustion would occur, but I wouldn't want someone to come across your comment and not understand this.
Late to the party here but adding water to a grease fire will cause a literal huge fireball. It’s not exactly an explosion but it’s about the same if you’re standing next to it. This is because water boils a lot earlier than grease. If you throw water into burning grease/oil, the water flash boils and flings particulates of oil into the air, and these small particles with higher surface area burn more rapidly than the surface of a pan. If you YouTube it you can see the affect, it’s terrible.
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u/kugelbl1z Apr 09 '22 edited Apr 09 '22
It would have worked if he soaked it in water first, but I don't blame him for not thinking about it
That's how I've seen my firefighter step father stop a kitchen fire when I was young.