We've all made the classic mistake of burning our food before. Whether you've accidentally left your bread in the toaster for too long, put the wrong time on the microwave, or fallen asleep while something's in the oven, burning food is a common occurrence.

But what should you do with your food once it's been burnt? Most of us wouldn't eat burnt food, so while it might seem wasteful, the go-to reaction is to chuck it in the bin and start again on making a new slice of toast or rustling up something different for your dinner.

According to one former fire department EMT (emergency medical technician), however, putting burnt food directly into your bin could be incredibly dangerous - and you could risk starting a fire in your home.

Alexandra Fisher, from the US, was an EMT at a fire department for 10 years, during which time she provided emergency medical care to people involved in fire-related emergencies.

And in a recent Instagram video, she told households to ensure they never put burnt food straight into the bin when it's still hot, as it could cause devastation to their home and even risk their own lives.

Alexandra's video responded to another clip of a woman who put a brownie in her microwave but accidentally put the timer on for two minutes instead of 20 seconds. She threw it in the bin once she realised her mistake, and an hour later, firefighters were at her house trying to put out a blaze that the brownie had started.

The expert said: "If you burn something in the microwave and you see there's smoke, what you're going to do is you are going to shut the microwave again. You are not going to leave that door open so that the smoke can come out of the microwave.

"Obviously, you're going to make sure that the microwave is off, and if the smoke goes down, then you're all good. If it doesn't, call the fire department. But even if everything is okay, if you have burnt food, do not throw it in the trash until it cools."

Alexandra said you can move the burnt food somewhere safe, like inside your sink, so that it can cool down without the risk of it causing anything around it to catch fire. If it's safe to do so, you can also run cold water over the food.

She added: "Fire doesn't need a flame to start; it can start from something really, really hot. When you burn food, part of what makes it burn is that it gets really hot. Inside the black, charred, burnt parts of the food, there can actually be little embers."

If you throw burnt food into your bin that is still hot, the embers inside the food can cause other items in your bin to catch fire, including food scraps, plastic packaging, and even your bin liner.

Alexandra explained an easy way to make sure something is okay to throw in the bin is to run cold water over it to put out any embers that might be lingering. However, you should not do this if any oil is involved in the food that is burning, as this can make the fire worse.

You should also ensure that it is no longer smoking. Smoke means fire, so if there is active smoke coming from your food, you should not put it in the bin.

The expert recommended that even if you follow all of these steps, you should set a timer on your phone for 10 or 20 minutes and go back to check on your bin, just to make sure everything is safe.

Commenters on the post thanked Alexandra for her helpful advice, as many said they had no idea that burnt food could cause such a fire risk.

One person said: "I actually didn't know that throwing burnt food in the bin could be a fire risk. I think a lot of people just don't think before throwing it out."

Another added: "Thank you for this! Saved and will share to my family."