Cooking fires more likely on Thanksgiving
With the holidays approaching and the preparing of food and special dishes, cooking fires are more likely to happen on Thanksgiving Day than any other day of the year, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
In 2005, cooking fires were involved in approximately 1,300 reported home fires on Thanksgiving, almost three times the daily average, says the NFPA.
Enterprise Fire Chief Byron Herring said at times involving more preparation of food in the kitchen, fires can become a hazard.
“People just need to be aware of what they’ve got on the stove and in the oven at all times. With company coming in, sometimes it gets easy to overlook something on the stove that is boiling, especially anything with grease,” he said. “Grease overheating is often the cause of fires.”
Herring also said burn-related injuries often also result from cooking-related fires.
“Make sure that a kitchen fire extinguisher is nearby, preferably within reach,” he said. “If someone needs to leave the stove or oven for a while, just make sure everything is turned off.”
NFPA stated hundreds of Americans are killed each year due to home cooking fires and thousands more are injured. Annually, cooking fires cause more than a half- billion dollars in direct property damage to homes and belongings.
The NFPA offers these tips for safer cooking:
- Stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling or broiling food
- Check food regularly when simmering, baking, boiling or roasting food and remain in the home while food is cooking.
- Stay alert. Don’t cook if sleepy, if you have been drinking alcohol or have taken medicine that makes you drowsy.
- Keep things that burn, such as potholders, oven mitts, paper or plastic, off the stovetop.
- Don’t store things that can burn in an oven, microwave or toaster oven.
- Clean food and grease off burners and ovens.
- Wear clothing with sleeves that are short, close-fitting or tightly rolled up.
- Keep kids away from cooking areas, especially around the stove.
- Use the back burners when possible, and turn pot handles inward to reduce the risk that pots with hot contents will be knocked over.
- Never hold a small child while cooking.
For more information, see NFPA’s Web site at http://www.nfpa.org.
By Carole Brand
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