New London — The kitchen of a Willetts Avenue apartment sustained substantial damage Thursday when a woman left a pan unattended on the stove and returned to find flames shooting toward the ceiling, fire officials said.

The call for the blaze at 22 Willetts Ave. came in at 7:44 p.m. Firefighters saw smoke coming from the first floor as they pulled up to the scene, and upon entry quickly realized the fire was in the kitchen.

While it didn’t take long to put the fire out, Fire Inspector David Heiney said, the kitchen sustained substantial fire damage and the whole apartment has moderate smoke damage.

A resident of the home told firefighters she was cooking but had left the kitchen — and a pan with oil in it — for about five minutes. Alerted by smoke detectors in the apartment, she returned to find flames shooting up from the pan and rolling across the ceiling.

Heiney said the resident inadvertently made things worse by throwing water on the flames. He and Fire Marshal Vernon Skau reminded residents that the best thing to do is to cover the pan and/or remove it from the heat — but only if it’s safe to do so.

About half of New London's fires each year are attributable to cooking.

Heiney said the American Red Cross temporarily relocated two residents of the apartment.

Records show the two-story, two-family house belongs to Frank and Beatrice Jennette.

The New London Fire Department has smoke detectors available for those who need them. Call firefighters at (860) 447-5291 for more details.

l.boyle@theday.com