Cooking fires are among the most dangerous house fires says the State Fire Marshall. Randy Cole says when making turkey today to pay attention to the food in the oven, especially as guests start to arrive.
He says having a fire extinguisher nearby can be helpful, but says not to rely on that for a fire that’s bigger than you can control. He says call 9-1-1 immediately if there’s a fire, and make sure all the guests know what the quickest way out of the house is.
The National Fire Protection Association says house fires double on Thanksgiving Day as compared to other days of the year, because of cooking fires. Cole says another way to decrease the number of house fires is to make sure children aren’t running and playing in the kitchen, where they could knock something over or hurt themselves.
He says kitchen fires cause more property damage than most other rooms of the house.
Thanksgiving Fire Facts:
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Cooking is the leading cause of home fires on Thanksgiving Day.***
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Cooking fires nearly double on Thanksgiving Day, occurring more than twice as often than on another day.***
- Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries.**
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Thanksgiving Day home fires cause more property damage and claim more lives than home fires on other days.**
- Eighty percent of Americans don’t realize that home fires are the single most common disaster across the nation.*
- The number of home fires the American Red Cross has responded to has risen 10% since 2000.*
- Every two and a half hours someone is killed in a home fire. In a typical year, 20,000 people are injured in home fires.**
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Having a working smoke alarm reduces one’s chances of dying in a fire by nearly half.**
Sources: American Red Cross,* U.S. Fire Administration,** and the National Fire Protection Association.***