Risk of residential fire more than doubles on Thanksgiving |

By Anita Byer, Setnor Byer Insurance & Risk

Did you know that the risk of a residential fire more than doubles on Thanksgiving Day? In fact, …

The average number of residential fires is 2.3 times higher on Thanksgiving than all other days of the year.
Cooking is the leading cause of all Thanksgiving fires (74 percent).
More than half of all Thanksgiving fires (54 percent) occurred from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Most Thanksgiving fires (60 percent) happen in 1- and 2-family dwellings.

The good news is that it’s pretty easy to effectively reduce to risk of a Thanksgiving fire in your home. Here are ten tips from FEMA to help keep your family and friends safe this year.

Stand by your pan. If you leave the kitchen, turn the burner off.
Keep an eye on what you fry. Most cooking fires start when frying food.
Roll up your sleeves. This reduces the chance that they’ll catch fire.
Supervise children and pets. Make sure they stay away from the stove.
Watch what you’re cooking. If you see smoke, or grease starts to boil, turn the burner off.
If there’s an oven fire, keep the door closed. Turn off the oven and keep the door closed until it’s cool.
Move things that can burn away from the stove. This includes dishtowels, bags, boxes, paper and curtains.
Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove. This makes it harder to bump them or pull them over.
Only use a turkey fryer outdoors. Place it on a sturdy surface, away from things that can burn.
Check smoke alarms. Working smoke alarms should be close to where anyone may be sleeping.