Common sense can prevent Turkey Day fires

By Teri Mizuhara

The Amador-El Dorado Unit of CalFire wants to make sure everyone’s Thanksgiving holiday is a fire safe holiday.

Across this nation there are approximately 2,000 house fires reported on Thanksgiving Day, the highest number of house fires for any single day of the year. These fires result in injury, death and over $21 million in damage in one single 24 hour period.

Over 70 percent of these fires occur between noon and 4pm and nearly 70 percent are cooking fires which are mostly small, but any fire has the potential to destroy lives.

So what can you do to prevent a holiday disaster?:

• Leaving your food cooking unattended is the leading cause of cooking fires. It is best to never leave food cooking unattended. If you must leave the cooking area, turn off the burner, oven, etc.
• Be sure to turn the handles of the pots and pans toward the back of the stove where they are out of reach and are less likely to get bumped.
• Keep a lid or baking sheet nearby to cover a pot or pan that has caught fire.
• Frying poses the greatest risk of a fire, so consider an alternative such as the infrared oil-less fryers available for less than $100.
• Avoid wearing loose fitting clothes with long sleeves while cooking because clothing catching on fire accounts for 16 percent of cooking fire deaths.
• Establish a “no kid zone” for a minimum of 3 feet around any cooking surface.
• Make sure your smoke detectors are working and linked throughout your home.

Teri Mizuhara works for the Amador-El Dorado Unit of CalFire.