Holiday Cooking and Fire Safety 2011 

Cold weather—and holidays--bring increased risk of fire.
• In fact, Thanksgiving is the leading day of the year for home fires involving cooking equipment.
That makes safety in the kitchen very important, especially when children are at home.
• Children and older adults face a higher risk of death from cooking fires than anyone else.
• Make sure children are kept at least 3 feet away from stoves and any other equipment that can
become hot and they should be kept away from hot food and liquids. Children can be easily and
seriously burned if they’re not supervised.
• If you choose to deep fry a turkey, the same rules apply about keeping children and pets well away.
• Deep fryers should be used very carefully according to directions. Keep in mind you’re heating
oil to high temps over an open flame, and splashed oil can cause extremely serious burns.
• Have a fire escape plan. Every family member should know at least two ways out of each room,
and know to get out of the house whenever the smoke alarm sounds. Decide ahead of time on
where to meet once everyone is out, and NEVER call 911 from a burning house unless you are
trapped inside.
• Working smoke alarms save lives! Having working smoke alarms in your home can give you
advance warning if there’s a fire. If your alarm sounds, take it seriously. You only have a few
minutes to escape a house fire.
• If you haven’t changed the batteries in your smoke & carbon monoxide alarms yet this year,
now is a good time.
• REMEMBER: Taking just a little time for fire prevention during the holidays can go a long ways towards saving your family’s lives!

• For more fire safety information, check out these websites:
www.nfpa.org, www.homesafetycouncil.org, www.usfa.dhs.gov

Contact:

Carol Nolte, Deputy State Fire Marshal  
304.558.2191 
Carol.E.Nolte@wv.gov