As home cooks chop, sauté and roast in preparation to serve a Thanksgiving meal, firefighters around the state prepare for a busy day.
“It’s a time of elevated calls and elevated issues for the fire department, so people need to be careful,” said Joe Cuneo, the Wendell and New Salem fire chief.
“Firefighters are busier on Thanksgiving Day than any other day of the year because this holiday has the most home fires,” State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey said in a press release.
There were 145 fires on Thanksgiving Day last year across the state, which caused over half a million dollars in damages, the majority of them cooking fires, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Of the 651 Thanksgiving Day fires across the state in the past five years, 87 percent were caused by cooking activities.
For firefighters in the county and across the state, fire prevention can be simple, yet effective.
“As your families gather to celebrate this holiday, keep everyone safe. Start by making sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms,” Ostroskey said.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office advises home cooks to check their ovens before turning them on, wear short or tight-fitting sleeves, and to set timers for cooking food.
“Cooking fires are often caused by people who are not necessarily paying (full) attention,” Cuneo said. “Be super careful of what you’re doing. Don’t let anything be unattended.”
Cuneo highlighted two safety tips for this Thanksgiving: Use equipment as directed by its owner’s manual and pay attention to children and elders as they move about.
Although Thanksgiving may elevate the possibility of fires, for some local on-call fire departments, staffing may not change.
“We don’t do anything specific to change (staffing),” Cuneo said. “All of us let each other know what their plans are. … So people know where people are going to be” in case an emergency arises.
The deep-frying method of cooking a turkey is discouraged by the National Fire Protection Association.
“Turkey fryers that use cooking oil … are not suitable for safe use even by a well-informed and careful consumer. These turkey fryers … pose a significant danger that hot oil will be released at some point during the cooking process,” reads the public education section of the association’s website.
For Kyle Cogswell, captain with the Turners Falls Fire Department, deep frying a turkey is one cooking method that he recalls has started fires locally.
“Never deep-fat fry a turkey that is frozen,” he said. “Several people have tried to do that and it usually ends in disaster.
“A very, very important tip (is to) turn pot handles in. It seems so simple, but with an overabundance of people in your home — family and friends — (the stovetop) can become a crowded area,” he said, adding that an accidental bump of the hip on a pot or pan handle can quickly turn into an injury.
“Just continue to watch anything that is on the stove or in the oven,” Cogswell said. “I would never leave something on the stove and go outside or leave that area; (cooking items) should be closely monitored.”
If a fire does occur, the State Fire Marshal’s Office has tips to quell the flames.
The best way to react to a stovetop fire is to put a lid on it and turn off the heat. For oven or broiler fires, the best way is to keep the oven doors closed and turn off the heat.
If the fire is not quickly snuffed out, leave the house and call 911 from outside, the office advises.
“I always like to say, if people have any questions or if there is an emergency, contact us,” Cogswell said.