Cooking safety starts with you. Pay attention to fire prevention.
Did you know that cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home injuries in the United States?
As the holiday season approaches, the Warrenville Fire Protection District would like to remind the community of the following safety tips to help keep yourself, your loved ones and your property safe:
- Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking on the stovetop.
- Stay home when cooking your turkey, and check on it frequently.
- Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, or towels — away from your stovetop.
- Keep matches and utility lighters out of the reach of children — such as stored up high in a locked cabinet.
- Make sure your smoke alarms are working. Test them by pushing the test button.
When frying a Turkey remember these safety tips:
- Make sure your turkey fryer is on a sturdy level surface at least 10 feet away from your home and not under roof eaves.
- An overfilled cooking pot will cause cooking oil to spill when the turkey is put in. Test the amount of oil you need by filling your fryer with water. Place the turkey in the pot, making sure the water doesn’t get too close to the top. Measure the water and use that as a guide for filling the pot with oil.
- Make sure your turkey is fully thawed before you fry it. A partially thawed turkey will cause cooking oil to splatter when you put it in the pot.
- If your turkey fryer does not have a thermostat, use a kitchen thermometer that attaches to the side of the pot. This will help monitor the oil temperature.
- Always use protective oven mitts. Keep children and pets at least 3 feet from the turkey fryer.
If you have any doubt about fighting a small fire… Just get out! When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain the fire. Call 9-1-1 from outside the home.
Visit the Warrenville Fire Protection District website for more safety tips at: https://warrenvillefire.com/fire-preparedness/