NY presented the following explanation :
- ideally, find a large non-flammable board and lay that over the top to make
sure that all the air is excluded (the damp towel or fire blanket will do
this to some extent but not perfectly)

And if you remember all that while you are panicking, you're probably
superhuman!

We like proper chips from a chip pan. It has two lugs to pick it up,
which when in use get very hot, too hot to attempt to lift were it to
catch fire (good thing). We have a heavy solid hard wood chopping board
alongside the gas hob, which is perfect to drop straight on top of the
pan, should it ever catch fire.