Thanksgiving Day is coming up! This is the time for turkey, cranberry sauce (or cranberry jelly), and your grandma’s favorite pie recipe. This is the time to watch football and root for your favorite team. This is the time for your family’s favorite traditions. It’s also a time when house fires are more common.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is the leading day for cooking-related house fires. Turkey Day has three times the daily average amount of cooking fires in the United States; in 2021, more than 1,000 cooking fires were reported on Thanksgiving in the United States.
Cooking fires account for over half of all reported home fires in the United States, over one-third of American fire-related injuries, and nearly one-fifth of all fire-related fatalities.
Take the following steps for a safer Thanksgiving:
Keep children and pets away from the cooking area during Thanksgiving.
Keep your cooking on the stovetop supervised at all times. If you must leave the kitchen for any reason, turn the stove off. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires.
Don’t use turkey fryers that use oil and an open flame. There is no safe way to use such fryers, as frying a large amount of oil at high temperatures could cause severe burns and fire damage to the surrounding area. If you want a fried turkey this Thanksgiving, use an infrared or electric fryer, or purchase a fried turkey from a grocery store.
Check your smoke detectors to see if they are working properly. They are the vanguard of fire prevention, as they provide the signal to leave and save lives. If they are not working properly, replace them or change their batteries.
