INSURANCE AND SAFETY FIRE COMMISSIONERS URGES SAFETY OVER HOLIDAY

Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King is urging Georgians to use caution while cooking this holiday season.

“I join many Georgians in being thankful for firefighters and other fire safety professionals,” said Commissioner King. “However, we don’t want Georgians to have to call the fire department on Thanksgiving Day, so we urge all Georgians to follow these simple fire safety tips as they prepare the family feast.”

Commissioner King tells WLHR News just this year nine Georgians died in cooking-related fires last year.

So far this year there have been 69 fire fatalities, and a 2019 report by State Farm Insurance said Georgia is the top state in the country for cooking/grease fire losses.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), cooking is the leading cause of home fires.

One out of three home fires begins in the kitchen – more than any other place in the home, and Thanksgiving Day is the peak day for home cooking fires.

That’s why King is urging people take extra precautions this week when cooking that Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

“The challenge here is that people who don’t typically cook. They want to try something new. They don’t read the instructions, the family m embers start arriving and they get in a panic to get everything done quickly so they take shortcuts. And these shortcuts can be quite deadly,” King explained.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, followed by Christmas Day and Christmas Eve.

Commissioner King suggests the following cooking safety tips to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable holiday season:

First, while deep frying a turkey has become a popular cooking method, he says never put a frozen turkey into a hot deep fryer.

“When the cold frozen turkey hits the hot boiling oil it can have an explosive reaction, which is very dangerous,” he said.

Also, remember to set your timer and keep your cooking area free of potholders, towels, and other combustibles.

And remember to make sure you have enough smoke alarms in your home.

King offers other tips when cooking that Thanksgiving meal:

Always keep an eye on what you are cooking/frying.

Never leave the cooking area unattended.

Keep a lid beside the pan when cooking and if a fire starts, slide the lid over the pan and turn off the burner. Never throw water on a grease fire.

Keep a fire extinguisher approved for cooking or grease fires nearby. Make sure your smoke alarms are working.

“We go back to having a functioning smoke detector in the home,” King said. “It’s astounding the number of deaths we’ve had in the State of Georgia. And when our investigators go in to work these fires, we find there was no working smoke detector. So, it’s tremendous the amount of human losses when it could be so easily prevented.”

If you have a cooking fire you can’t control – just get out and get everybody else out and call 911.

If you can, try to shut the door to the kitchen behind you if there is one to keep the fire contained.