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Red Cross Offers 10 Thanksgiving Cooking Safety Tips
Published: November 24, 2021
at 07:30 p.m.
By: Press Release from American Red Cross
Red Cross offers 10 Thanksgiving Cooking Safety tips
More home cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than
any other day;
extra precautions needed for ongoing COVID-19
pandemic
As Thanksgiving
approaches, it’s a time to prepare the holiday feast and brush up on home
fire safety. Plus, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect
communities, planning your celebrations may be a little different this
year.
“Home fires are a
real threat over the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Kevin Coffey,
Regional CEO, American Red Cross Eastern New York Region. In particular, cooking fires are the number one cause
of home fires and year after year Thanksgiving is the peak day for these
tragedies. We at the Red Cross are urging families to follow cooking safety
steps to help prevent your holiday celebrations from going up in smoke.”
To help keep you
and your loved ones safe this Thanksgiving, the American Red Cross offers
these safety tips:
1. Keep an eye on
what you fry. Never leave cooking food unattended. If you must leave the
kitchen, even for a short period of time, turn off the stove.
2. Move items that
can burn away from the stove. This includes dishtowels, bags, boxes, paper and curtains. Also keep children and pets at least
three feet away.
3. Avoid wearing
loose clothing or dangling sleeves while cooking.
4. When frying food,
turn the burner off if you see smoke or if the grease starts to boil.
Carefully remove the pan from the burner.
5. Keep a pan lid or
a cookie sheet nearby. Use it to cover the pan if it catches on fire. This
will put out the fire. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.
6. Turn pot handles
to the back of the stove, so no one bumps them or pulls them over.
7. Use a timer to
remind yourself that the stove or oven is on. Check the kitchen before
going to bed or leaving home to ensure all stoves, ovens and small
appliances are turned off.
8. Celebrating with
the people you live with is the safest choice. If you do celebrate with
people who don’t live with you, gatherings and activities held outdoors are
safer than indoor gatherings.
9. Do not attend or
host a holiday gathering if you are sick or have symptoms of
COVID-19.
10.
If you are not fully vaccinated and must travel,
follow CDC’s Domestic Travel or International Travel recommendations for
unvaccinated people. Everyone, even people who are fully vaccinated, will
still be required to wear a mask on public
transportation.
You can also help
keep your family safe by testing your smoke alarms monthly and practicing
your home fire escape plan until everyone can get out in less than two
minutes — the amount of time you may have to get out of a burning
home before it’s too late.
Visit redcross.org/fire for
more information, including an escape plan to practice with your family.
You can also download our free Emergency app and free Red Cross First
Aid app for instant access on how to control bleeding, help someone
who is choking and other scenarios. Search “American Red Cross” in app
stores.
About the
American Red Cross:
The American Red
Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters;
supplies about 40% of the nation's blood; teaches skills that save lives;
distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military
members and their families. The Red Cross is a
nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the
American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visitredcross.org/eny or follow us on Twitter at @RedCrossENY.
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