Red Cross shares tips to prevent holiday cooking fires

By Joycelyne Fadojutimi/ip

As Thanksgiving approaches, the scent of roasting turkeys, simmering casseroles, and warm pies begins to drift across East Texas. Families gather in busy kitchens, children peek over counters, and ovens work overtime. But behind the comfort of holiday cooking lies a hidden danger—one the American Red Cross is urging families to take seriously.

Thanksgiving Day, along with the day before, is one of the peak days for home cooking fires in the United States. In fact, cooking causes an average of 158,400 home fires every year, accounting for nearly half of all home fires nationwide. With those statistics in mind, the American Red Cross East Texas Chapter is reminding families to slow down, stay alert, and take simple steps that could prevent a holiday disaster.

“With so many families preparing meals this season, we just want everyone to stay safe,” said Karen Holt, executive director of the East Texas Chapter. “The simplest step, like staying in the kitchen while you’re cooking, can prevent a tragedy and protect the people you love.”

As pots bubble, timers beep, and visitors fill the house, the Red Cross urges everyone to keep safety at the center of the celebration. They offer the following tips as families prepare their Thanksgiving feasts:

• Stay in the kitchen when you’re frying, grilling, or broiling food. Even a quick step away can be long enough for a fire to spark.
• Use a timer so an oven or stove doesn’t slip your mind during the holiday rush.
• Avoid loose or dangling sleeves while cooking—they can easily brush against heat sources.
• Keep kids and pets at least three feet away from hot surfaces.
• Keep flammable items—like towels, packaging, mitts, and curtains—away from the stovetop and heat-producing appliances.
• Keep flammable items—like towels, packaging, mitts, and curtains—away from the stovetop and heat-producing appliances.
• Clean cooking surfaces often to keep grease from building up.
• Consider keeping a fire extinguisher handy in your kitchen.
• Before going to bed or leaving the house, double-check that all appliances are turned off.

These tips may seem small, but they can make a life-saving difference.

Since 2014, through education, fire-safety planning, and free smoke-alarm installations, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign and its community partners have helped save at least 2,196 lives across the country. The organization encourages families to learn more, get involved, or take steps to make their own homes safer by visiting redcross.org/homefires.

This Thanksgiving, as families gather around tables filled with gratitude, the Red Cross hopes that safety will be one more thing everyone remembers to give thanks for—ensuring that holiday memories are warm for all the right reasons.