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SAN DIEGO – While Thanksgiving tops the charts for family and friends coming together to enjoy food and one another’s company, it’s also the leading day for U.S. home cooking fires.
According to the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) latest “Home Fire Involving Cooking Equipment” report, nearly four times as many home cooking fires occurred on Thanksgiving Day in 2015 as on any other typical day of the year. The day before Thanksgiving represents the second-leading day for home cooking fires.
Between 2011 and 2015, U.S. fire departments responded to an annual average of 170,200 home structure fires involving cooking equipment, which resulted in 510 civilian fire deaths, 5,470 civilian fire injuries, and $1.2 billion in direct property damage. Unattended cooking was, by far, the leading contributing factor in these fires and fire fatalities.
In that same five-year period, cooking equipment was involved in almost half (47 percent) of all reported home fire incidents. Cooking fires caused 20 percent of home fire deaths, and was the source of nearly half (45 percent) of the reported home fire injuries. In terms of direct property damage, 17 percent of damage resulting from cooking fires.
“At Thanksgiving, when people are cooking multiple dishes and entertaining guests, it’s easy to get distracted,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of outreach and advocacy. “These distractions may prompt them to walk away from the kitchen or forget something is cooking on the stovetop or in the oven. These factors can all increase the likelihood of a cooking fire.”
Fortunately, Carli notes, there are many simple steps you can take to greatly reduce the risk of cooking fires on Thanksgiving and beyond. Following are NFPA tips and recommendations for cooking safely:
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