Thanksgiving Day cooking safety

APPLETON - The National Fire Protection Association says Thanksgiving Day is number one for cooking fires. Three times as many as a normal day. Cooking the turkey can often be the most dangerous part. Especially when frying it.

"You've got a lot of things going on, you've got high heat, a lot of oil and a lot of inexperience," said Appleton Fire Department public information officer Scott Karpinski.

But the danger goes beyond the deep fryer. The U.S. Fire Administration says 2,000 fires happen on Thanksgiving Day each year and more than 90 percent of them start in the kitchen. The message?

"Awareness, knowing what you are cooking and who you are cooking with and keeping kids out of the kitchen," said Karpinski.

Fire prevention experts recommend staying in the kitchen when cooking. Regularly checking food left in the oven or on the stove top and keeping flammable items away from open flames.

It's why the Appleton Fire Department has a Keep the Wreath Green program each year during the holidays. Each fire in the city means a green light gets replaced with a red one. Something that happened only one time last year.

"The holiday season tends to raise the danger for fires and the keeping the wreath program will hopefully make them more aware to keep a better eye on things and like in the kitchen, don't leave things unattended," said Appleton Fire Department public information officer Dan Dibbs.

Making sure this Thanksgiving celebration is a safe one.

The U.S. Fire Administration says on average Thanksgiving Day fires cause five deaths, 25 injuries and more than $21 million in property losses across the country.