Macon-Bibb Fire Department warns families about turkey fryer dangers ahead of Thanksgiving
Fire safety educators urge families to follow simple steps to avoid burns and grease fires during holiday cooking.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT-DT) – Thanksgiving is just a couple days away, and the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department says one of the main causes of fires during the holiday season is families not knowing how to properly fry a turkey.
Fire safety educator Jeremy Webb says it’s a major concern.
“And right now we’re going to expect a large amount of cooking,” he said. “So we just want to remind residents, that if you’re cooking, stay in the kitchen while you’re cooking. Make sure your home is equipped with working smoke alarms. The Macon–Bibb County Fire Department actually has a smoke alarm initiative, where we will come out and install smoke alarms free of charge, so if you need a working smoke alarm, please utilize that service.”
He says during holiday cooking, the department sees an increase in kitchen burns, so make sure your skin is covered.
“Long sleeves, protecting your hands and eyes and your feet when frying that turkey,” he said. “So commonly we see burns very often, and we see many fires with that turkey tipping over frying these turkeys indoors.”
In case of a fire, Webb recommends having an ABC multi-purpose fire extinguisher.
“We know that water and grease do not mix, so water will not work on any type of grease fire emergency,” he said.
If frying your turkey outdoors, he suggests being mindful of trees, branches and things of that nature. Fry your turkey at least 50 feet away from your home.
“If it was a fire that may happen, it could spread very quickly,” he said. “Also, you want to ensure that what’s going to reduce the fire tremendously, before you insert that turkey inside that grease, you turn that flame off. So, if that pot did boil over it won’t go into that flame and flare up. And that’s important with the overfill of the max fill line: don’t overfill your pot and ensure your turkey is completely thawed out before submerging into the grease.”
