Tri-City firefighters offer tips to keep Thanksgiving from going up in smoke
A watched pan is less likely to start a kitchen fire.
People often step away from the stove to check on the score of the football game or to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, only to find flames when they return to the kitchen, said Ben Shearer, who heads up the Pasco Fire Department’s risk reduction efforts.
Nationally, about 77 percent of fires that happen on Thanksgiving start with cooking, compared to about 50 percent normally.
And the Pasco department gets calls on a weekly basis from people who had a fire start while they were cooking.
“They walked away for whatever reason, or they left it on high a little too much, the next thing they know they have a fire going on the stove top,” he said.
In an effort to combat that, the department along with Lowe’s, Apollo, the International Association of Sheet Metal Workers and Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 598 and Signs by Sue, put together a demonstration kitchen to teach people how to respond to kitchen fires.
The new trailer lets them demonstrate with appliances that look much like what someone might have at home.
“I used to have a simple pan that I rigged up with some fake objects and pretend that it was fire,” he said.
The unveiling of the trailer coincided with the most common time for cooking fires to happen in homes, according to the U.S. Fire Administration.
One of the easiest ways to prevent that is to keep watching what is on the stove, Shearer said. If food is in the oven, keep a timer with you and frequently go back and check it.
“If you’re cooking on the stove top you want to stay with it, no matter what it is,” he said. “People tend to walk away, and you don’t see when that food is getting too hot, or that grease is starting to bubble up, and that’s when we end up with problems.”
Another way to prevent fires in the kitchen is making sure that it is clean. A pot holder left on a burner or paper towels too close can lead to a blaze.
If the grease in the pan catches on fire, people should put a lid over it. Trying to take it to the sink or pouring water on it can often make the situation worse.
People should put a lid over the pan, and turn the heat off, he said. The food will still be burned, but the fire will be out.
If the fire starts in the oven, people should keep it shut and turn off the heat. This deprives the flames of oxygen.
The city doesn’t have as many issues with people deep frying turkeys as in previous years, but they still see people who have moved the grill too close to the house.
“Everybody is wanting to get closer to that house. It’s cold, you don’t want o run out into your yard for your barbecue,” he said. “You still need that barbecue 5-feet away from the house and away from any overhang.”