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How to stay safe at home and in the kitchen this Thanksgiving

Posted at 8:43 AM, Nov 28, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-28 14:27:25-05

Millions of people will spend the long Thanksgiving weekend cooking and putting up holiday decorations for the season. But safety officials are reminding everyone there are many dangers surrounding the festive celebrations.

Here are  some tips on how you and your family can stay safe.

There will be a lot of cooking and food going around. The National Fire Protection Association warns people every year about the dangers of deep-frying their turkeys, and other holiday-related fire hazards like space heaters and ovens. All of these things – if not used properly can start a major fire.

It's also popular to deep fry a turkey for the holiday but extremely dangerous as well.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission - in the last two decades there were more than 80 injuries involving turkey fryers.

About 18-hundred cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving, four times more than any other day of the year.

It's important to only use dry, unfrozen turkeys.  Don't overfill the oil, turn off the flame when you lower the turkey and keep the fryer away from the house.

"Frying in general is one of the most common causes of fires because oil is very sporadic. you drop something wet or overflow the oil, it boils out, and that becomes a fuel and it spreads. plus that hot oil even before its ready to burn it can be hot enough to burn your skin and cause you some major injuries," according to Gerald Burnett of the Bryan Fire Department in Bryan, Texas.

Officials also say if you are cooking a turkey in the oven-- make sure you stay home and check on it often.