From space heaters to absent-minded cooks to the dangers of frying your turkey, area fire officials want you to play it safe as temperatures drop and relatives pack your house for Thanksgiving.
“Everything that people do outside that’s unsafe, now they’re doing it indoors,” said Columbus Fire and Rescue Chief Duane Hughes.
“(COVID-19) has lifted, and we’ve got a higher influx of family members getting together. With more people indoors, we see more unsafe acts.”
Ground zero for a lot of Thanksgiving-related fire hazards is the place that’s the heart of any Thanksgiving celebration: the kitchen.
“There are a lot of pressures people have,” Hughes said. “They’re trying to coordinate events, they’re on the phone, there’s this temptation to just let it simmer or just turn the eye down and, before you know it, you’ve got a fire. Don’t leave the kitchen unattended until your cooking is complete.”
Although fried turkey is a seasonal favorite, it’s easy for it to go horribly awry.
“Never try to fry a turkey in the house,” said Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough. “Also don’t fry it under a canopy, like on the back porch or something, because it can flame up.”
This may seem obvious, but thaw the turkey first, Lowndes County Fire Services Coordinator Neal Austin said.
“If it’s still frozen or half-frozen, as soon as it gets in contact with the grease it’s going to boil over,” he said. “Now you’ve got hot grease that’s close to its ignition temperature reaching fire.”
Keep the area around the fryer as clear as possible, said Starkville Fire Marshal Mark McCurdy.
“Make sure you’re at least five feet away from your house and on a firm, flat surface,” he said. “Preferably don’t do it on a wooden porch that’s connected to the house.”
If that holiday dinner gets out of control, don’t try to carry anything outside that’s actually on fire.
“If it’s a grease fire, don’t add water to it and don’t try to take it out of the house,” Austin said. “That hot grease is easy to spill, and we see quite a bit of people who get bad burns that way.”
If something in the kitchen blazes up, the best solution is a fire extinguisher.
“If the fire is small, use your home fire extinguisher,” Yarbrough said. “If you don’t know how to use one, come by the fire station and we’ll show you. We do it all the time.”
Barring that, if it’s a stovetop fire, put a lid on it.
“If it’s on the stove, put a lid over it and cut the stove off, cut the breaker off, get it off the eye,” Austin said. “If it’s an oven fire, turn the heat off and leave the door closed. In both scenarios, call the fire department.”
With temperatures dropping, another risk comes when people break out the space heaters.
“Space heaters, if used correctly, are perfectly safe,” McCurdy said. “It’s when they’re misused that they become an issue.”
Make sure they are on a firm, flat surface and have plenty of clearance, he said.
“Make sure it’s at least three feet from any combustible material,” he said. “It’s common to use one in a bedroom, but make sure it’s not too close to sheets or blankets that are hanging off the bed.”
Don’t use extension cords or power strips, either.
“Plug it straight into the wall,” Austin said. “They draw a lot of (power) and it heats up the cord, which becomes a fire hazard.”
In any case, have an escape plan and make sure everyone knows how to get out of the house if a fire does break out, Yarbrough said. And, once you’re out, stay out.
“Once you’re out, never go back in,” he said. “We have so many people dying from going back in for some reason. If you go back in, you’re more than likely not going to come back out.”
Even if you live in a rural area, where response times are longer in case of fire, the best thing to do is get out of the house and call the fire department, Austin said.
“We can replace structures and replace things, but we can’t replace people,” he said. “Get out, make everybody safe, and wait for the firefighters.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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