While most Iowans are anticipating tasty feasts for their meals today, they need to be aware Thanksgiving is the peak day of the year for cooking-related housefires. According to Lorraine Carli with the National Fire Protection Agency, that’s the bad news. The good news is, most of those fires can be prevented as many of them are the result of unattended cooking.
Carli says cooks need to stay in the kitchen, especially if they’re frying, grilling or broiling food. Carli says if you need to leave for any amount of time, shut everything down. To avoid distractions, she suggests getting plenty of sleep and skipping alcohol.
Kids are another holiday distraction. Carli says to make a kid-free zone by keeping children at least three-feet from the stove. She suggests using the stove’s back burners and turn the pot handles inward to reduce the risk a child will zip by, knock into the pot and knock it over.
Carli says keeping your cooking equipment and utensils clean is also very important, as fires often start from excess grease left on burners or utensils. More safety information is on the National Fire Protection Agency website .