Thanksgiving Cooking Safety Tips

Thanksgiving Day ranks third highest in the number of U.S. kitchen fires each year on a holiday.  Oconee County Assistant Fire Chief and County Fire Marshall Shane Gibbs offers these cooking safety tips when preparing that Thanksgiving meal for the family.  “Make sure that you do not wear loose clothing around your stove top.  Wearing loose clothing, you can come in contact with the stove and your clothes can catch on fire.  Also, keep any kind of combustibles, potholders, paper towels, any thing that can catch on fire easily.  Recent information from the United States Fire Administration shows that Thanksgiving is one of the top three holidays where the most kitchen fires happen in the home.  The other two being Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so with that in mind, we urge residents to pay attention to these safety tips, so that they can have a safe and enjoyable holiday.” Turkey fryers are a leading cause of fires at Thanksgiving and Chief Gibbs says if you plan to cook your turkey this year with a fryer, follow these safety tips.  “Turkey fryers are a great concern for us.  We asked that if you do use a turkey fryer, you put it outside, out in the open.  A lot of people like to use them in a garage or enclosed porch, but make sure that it stays in the open.  Make sure that your turkey is completely thawed, that is one of the problems where you have a fire is when the turkey is still partially frozen.  If you use a turkey fryer, make sure you have a fire extinguisher close by.” Please follow this Thanksgiving cooking advice from the Oconee County Fire Department, so everyone can have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.