Ever wonder the best way to prevent your Thanksgiving get-together from including your local fire department? Well, I have some advice for you…

• Like to deep fry your bird? Yum…but think about it: super-heated grease in an appliance easily accessible to small children, pets and even curious adults. Do not leave your fryer unattended. When you’re done cooking, make sure it’s secured from Fido and his human friends getting burned by the hot oil.
• Remain in the kitchen while cooking on top of the stove. If you have to leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn that burner off.
• Keep oven mitts, utensils, food packaging, and towels away from the cooking area.
• Don’t wear loose or flowing clothing while cooking. Danger, Will Robinson!
• Turn handles on pans in so they are not accidentally hit. A small child pulling a pan full of hot food off a stove is not a pretty sight, trust me.
• Keep a lid handy to smother flames if you have a small grease fire. Slide the lid over the pan, and turn off the burner. Leave covered until it is completely cooled. Do not throw water on it! Water hitting hot grease will cause the flaming grease to explode out of the pan and can cause severe burns. Yes, I said explode, and I meant it.
• If your pie pan in the oven overflows with boiling hot pumpkin filling that catches fire, turn off the oven and leave the door closed. Don’t open the door to pull the food out until you are absolutely sure the fire is out. Also, don’t open the oven door to throw water on the fire. This can cause flash and steam burns on your face. The holiday for scary faces was last month; we don’t want to repeat it. Be careful!

Remember, whether you have a fire on top of the stove or in the oven, call 911 immediately—even if you think you have the fire out. Our firefighters can make sure it is out, take your charred dish from the oven and safely outside, and even get the smoke out of your house.

Last but not least, did you change your smoke detector batteries when you changed your clocks? If not, do it now before you start cooking. From all of us at Derby Fire & Rescue, have a great Thanksgiving.

Brad Smith
Fire Chief

Published in the Derby Informer on Nov. 16, 2016.