While the Thanksgiving holiday is joyous, it can also be a perfect time for more accidents to occur, especially fire-related accidents. Executive Director J. David Smith urged all Rhode Islanders to” think safety first as they enjoy this holiday.” Fire accidents are frightfully common during Thanksgiving, and the National Fire Protection Association reports that more cooking fires occur on this holiday than any other day in the calendar.
To avoid fire accidents during Thanksgiving, consider the following tips:
• Be on alert! Always keep your eyes on what is cooking.
• Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
• Keep anything that can catch fire – oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains- away from your stovetop.
Outdoors, turkey deep fryers are becoming popular choices to cook the Thanksgiving bird. Overheating can occur if temperature controls, which are designed to shutoff the fryer if the oil overheats, are defective, or if the appliance has no temperature controls. Please use extreme caution when deep frying your turkey.
The Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency (RIEMA) is the state agency responsible for coordinating federal, state, and local resources to protect the public during disasters and emergencies. RIEMA helps develop plans for effective response to all hazards, trains emergency personnel, provides information to families and communities, and assists in recovery from disaster losses. You can learn more about RIEMA by visiting the RIEMA homepage at www.riema.ri.gov