CORTLANDT MANOR, N.Y. Thanksgiving warms the heart and home, but residents should be vigilant and cautious when cooking their Thanksgiving meal. Hot grease, candles and alcohol consumption are just some of the extra dangers during the holiday season, said fire officials.
Basically, home cooking fires are one of the major causes of fire particularly around this time of year because everyone is spending a lot more time in the kitchen for holiday preparation, said Thomas Tex Dinkler, deputy chief of the Croton Fire Department.
The National Fire Prevention Association said in 2009 the average number of house fire tripled on Thanksgiving. Cooking fire caused an average of 390 civilian deaths, 4,800 civilian injuries and $771 million worth of property damage.
According to Dinkler, deep frying turkeys can be a particularly dangerous holiday activity. Overfilling the deep-fat fryer with oil or dunking a turkey half-thawed can cause oil to spill out of the pot and onto the heating element. Only fully-thawed turkeys should be gently lowered into hot oil. Being attentive to any cooking or burning candles are other important ways to prevent fires.
Most fire extinguishers available today are ABC fire extinguishers. This means these extinguishers tackle the three main causes of house fires, including combustibles, like a hot pot holder too close to the stove, accelerants, like grease, and electrical fires.
Homeowners can prevent their smoke detectors from going off during the holiday by cleaning their ovens ahead of time. Dinkler recommends wiping the oven out before turning on self-cleaning features, which can cause dirty ovens to smoke.
For cooking burns, Kathy Stewart, president of the Cortlandt Volunteer Ambulance Corps, said not to put butter on it.
You can run it under cold water, because you have to stop the burning process. Apply some ice, if the skin is infected you have to cover it. Stewart said. If in doubt, go to the emergency room.
Other holiday safety tips include:
-Keep candles in glass containers, away from flammable objects.
-Dont let pot handles dangle over the edge of the stove, pot handles should always point toward the center of the stove.
-Create a three-foot no kid zone around the stove to protect kids from hot foods and liquids.
-Fry turkeys away from your home and other flammable objects.
-If you have an oven fire, turn the heat off and keep the door closed. Call 9-1-1.
Visit the National Fire Prevention Association's website for more information on what to do in the event of a fire.
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