Narrative:

We were taxiing out when we got a call from the forward galley that they had an oven fire. They explained that they smelled an abnormal burning smell and looked in all the ovens until they found the source. The oven was turned off and contained the first class entrees. When they opened it smoke came out and they could see a bright red glow coming from the back. The flight attendants told me they had pulled the circuit breaker and they had a halon extinguisher ready and asked if they should reopen the oven. The captain turned off both utility busses immediately. The flight attendants asked if they should reopen the oven and I told them to leave it closed to contain the fire. I asked if there was any sign of fire outside the oven and they said no. I told them to continue watching it and use the extinguisher if it appeared to be spreading out of the oven.we informed ground that we wanted to taxi to the [holding area] (which we were right next to) due to an oven fire. They rolled the fire trucks to us just as a precaution. We called ramp control and told them we needed to return to the gate. We informed dispatch of the situation.at the [holding area] the fire marshal informed us that there was no exterior evidence of a fire. We shut down the engines and they brought air stairs to door 1L to inspect the oven and make sure the fire was out. The firemen and maintenance techs agreed that the oven had probably shorted and overheated. There was heat damage to the inside of the oven; but there was no fire. Maintenance recommended towing back to a gate and leaving the utility buses in the off position.a super tug towed us back to the gate and we deplaned.finding the source and removing power quickly probably prevented this from becoming a real fire.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 FO reported a Flight Attendant called during taxi to report an oven fire. Flight returned to gate for maintenance attention.

Narrative: We were taxiing out when we got a call from the forward galley that they had an oven fire. They explained that they smelled an abnormal burning smell and looked in all the ovens until they found the source. The oven was turned off and contained the first class entrees. When they opened it smoke came out and they could see a bright red glow coming from the back. The flight attendants told me they had pulled the circuit breaker and they had a Halon extinguisher ready and asked if they should reopen the oven. The captain turned off both utility busses immediately. The flight attendants asked if they should reopen the oven and I told them to leave it closed to contain the fire. I asked if there was any sign of fire outside the oven and they said no. I told them to continue watching it and use the extinguisher if it appeared to be spreading out of the oven.We informed ground that we wanted to taxi to the [holding area] (which we were right next to) due to an oven fire. They rolled the fire trucks to us just as a precaution. We called ramp control and told them we needed to return to the gate. We informed dispatch of the situation.At the [holding area] the fire marshal informed us that there was no exterior evidence of a fire. We shut down the engines and they brought air stairs to door 1L to inspect the oven and make sure the fire was out. The firemen and maintenance techs agreed that the oven had probably shorted and overheated. There was heat damage to the inside of the oven; but there was no fire. Maintenance recommended towing back to a gate and leaving the utility buses in the off position.A super tug towed us back to the gate and we deplaned.Finding the source and removing power quickly probably prevented this from becoming a real fire.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.