Thanksgiving is a holiday of family, fun, and tradition — and the occasional story of someone starting a grease fire while deep frying a turkey.
The third Thursday of November is one of the busier days for fire departments across the state, with frenetic kitchen activity to provide for family gatherings leading to higher risk of a home fire. Fires can break out from stovetops, ovens and of course, turkey fryers.
Local fire chiefs, including Amherst Fire Department Chief Tim Nelson, are giving out tips to residents this year so that they can ensure their Thanksgiving dinners are a time of celebration and not a very bad case of burnt cooking.
“Make sure your oven is empty before you turn it on,” Nelson says. “Don’t wear loose clothes around the stove. We get those types of things throughout the year, but especially at this time because it’s a hectic time and folks are running around.”
For stovetop fires, the best way to deal with it is to cover it with a pan or lid and turn off the heat immediately. If that fails, then it’s time to evacuate the house and call 911. Place a pan at the bottom of an oven to catch debris so it can be cleaned later in a sink. And never leave the kitchen while cooking anything on the stove or in the oven. These are just some of the few basic tips to keep your kitchen fireproof during the holiday.
Capt. Dan Smith of the Greenfield Fire Department says it is important to keep the kitchen free of tripping or bumping hazards, such as toys or bags. He also said many fires are caused by unclean ovens. The self-cleaning option for ovens often gets them too hot, he says; he recommends the old-fashioned method of scraping and scrubbing to remove baked-on food.
Smith also stressed that ovens should never be used for storage. He said he knows of a few cases in which someone has opted to use their oven as a makeshift drawer for a purse or a bag of chips, only to forget about the item and cause a fire when they preheat the oven.
“Every day’s busy,” Smith said. “You never know what you’re going to deal with.”
Fortunately, the number of Thanksgiving fires seems to be decreasing. According to a statement put out by State Fire Marshal Peter Ostroskey, the number of residential cooking fires on Thanksgiving dropped by more than 20% last year, falling from 127 in 2020 to 97 in 2021. There were no fires attributed to turkey fryers last year, after a devastating Thanksgiving fire in New Bedford in 2020 caused severe injuries and displaced nearly 30 people.
Orange Fire Chief James Young said Thanksgiving is typically a busy day for his department, with both fire and medical calls. He said any foods that produce grease carry more potential to cause a fire. The internet is rife with videos of disasters caused by people attempting to deep-fry frozen turkeys, a relatively recent phenomenon.
Young said it is crucial to follow your fryer’s instructions and ensure you don’t fry a turkey anywhere near a structure.
“A lot of people like to do that in their garage — not a good idea,” he said. “Hopefully everybody has a … safe Thanksgiving and we don’t have to meet them under those circumstances.”
According to Chief Nelson, a turkey must be 80 to 90% thawed before attempting to deep fry it, and that people should follow the factory instructions with their fryer. But, he added, the most safest measure is to simply cook the bird the traditional way.
“I think an oven-baked Turkey is still the best way,” he said. “I think they taste the best also.”
For more information, contact your local fire department or visit the Department of Fire Services’ Thanksgiving web page at bit.ly/3TXAmef.
