How to prevent fires when preparing for your holiday

ABILENE, Texas – Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it’s important to be careful when preparing your holiday meals to avoid a fire.

“Thanksgiving is the day with the most structure fires all year, followed by Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day,” said Lindsay Fletcher, public information officer for the Abilene Fire Department. “These fires around Thanksgiving Day account for the highest number of cooking-related structure fires and cooking-related deaths.”

During Thanksgiving, people often cook multiple dishes at the same time and it’s important to stay focused on what you’re doing.

“So be careful not to be distracted while cooking and keep the children away from the kitchen. You don’t want them where there’s anything hot,” Fletcher said. “You don’t want them taking a pan off the stove if the handle is sticking out of the edge.”

“If you’re in the kitchen, I guess your job is to cook and someone else has to watch the kids or the dogs because you can’t do everything or you’ll burn something,” Abilene resident Taylor Watkins said.

Many people deep fry their turkeys and it is important to ensure that your deep fryer is at least 10 feet away from our home in the event of a fire.

“Before you do that, you can fill your deep fryer with water and then put your turkey in it,” Fletcher said. “Then note the level of the water when your turkey is all the way in, take it out, and once you’ve put the oil in you’ll know how high to fill it.

If there is a grease fire in your kitchen, there are a few steps you need to take.

“If you have a grease fire, keep the lid next to you so you can just place the pan lid on the fire,” Fletcher said. “Don’t put flour on it, don’t put salt on it, don’t put water on it. Put the lid on it, turn off the burner, and let it sit for a while until you’re sure it’s properly cooled.”

“First, never mix water and oil, including frozen water,” Watkins said. “This is how most fires start. People put frozen turkeys in boiling oil, which starts a fire. So oil and water don’t mix.”

When cooking this Thanksgiving, make sure you take proper measures to ensure your safety and avoid starting a fire.