Stay Thankful, Stay Safe: Fire Prevention Tips For Your Holiday Cooking

November 19, 2025

For many households, late November means kitchens full of mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, and mounds of freshly-cooked turkey positioned around the cornucopia. From ‘Friendsgiving’ gatherings to extended family meals, you’re sure to be putting your cooking equipment to work.

While this is a time to practice thankfulness, it’s also a time to practice fire prevention. Thanksgiving is the number one day for cooking-related fires, and add a deep-fried turkey to that, your odds of disaster are even greater. Follow these fire prevention tips to ensure your holiday traditions don’t go up in flames.

 

Turkey Fryer Tips

While organizations such as Underwriters Laboratories and the National Fire Protection Association strongly discourage all of you Thanksgiving grill masters from deep frying your turkeys, citing the risk of serious injuries and property damage from fires, we know how hard they are to resist. Knowing the risk, if you still choose to fry your turkey, we advise the following:

• Always fully defrost your turkey before frying to avoid hot oil splatters.
• Attend your deep fryer at all times once in use.
• Never fry your turkey in an enclosed space like homes, garages, sheds, enclosed porches, etc.
• Stay off wood decks and away from trees and other flammable structures.
• Never operate your fryer in the rain or snow.
• To avoid tipping, find a level surface and don’t move the fryer once in use.
• If using propane, leave two feet between the tank and the burner.
• Do not overfill the oil as it can ignite if it touches the burner.
• Keep your turkey small. 8-10 pounds is a safe range.
• Use temperature controls and turn your fryer off if the oil begins to smoke.
• Only deep fry the turkey on its own. Do not use stuffing or water-based marinades with the fryer.
• When you are ready to add the turkey, turn off the burner until it’s all the way in, then turn it on once submerged.
• Wear goggles and oven mitts long enough to protect your arms.
• Have a fire extinguisher on-hand and ready to go (see below for which kind to use for grease fires).
• Keep children and pets at least 3 feet away.
• Once your turkey is cooked, carefully place it on a level, non-flammable surface and let the oil cool overnight.

 

Kitchen FirE REMINDERS

As the time you spend cooking increases during the holiday season, so does the amount of distractions you have in your kitchen. Between children running around and trying to catch up with your in-laws, it’s nearly impossible to juggle the commotion while trying to recall fire prevention rules. We’ll take that off your plate with these reminders:

• Keep your fire extinguisher on-hand (see below for which kind to use for general cooking fires).
• Do not leave your oven or stove unattended while in use.
• Pay attention to if your food starts smoking or grease starts boiling. If so, remove the item and turn the oven or burner off.
• Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove, reducing the chances of bumping or knocking them over when someone walks by.
• Use a pan lid or baking sheet to suffocate a kitchen fire.
• Keep anything that can catch fire at least three feet away from your stovetop (think oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, kitchen towels, and paper towels).
• Be aware of loose clothing and hair and keep them away from open flames.
• Keep children and pets away from hot surfaces and open flames.
• Test your smoke alarms prior to cooking to ensure they are in proper working order. 

 

Fire Extinguisher guide

For the best protection against fires spreading and escalating, it’s important to have the appropriate fire extinguishing agents on-hand, and it’s crucial that you have the knowledge on how and when to use them. Our earlier fire extinguisher blog is a great reference for the different fire classifications and respective extinguishing agents to have in your home.

For your kitchen fires, you will want an ABC fire extinguisher. This agent fights three types of fires: ordinary combustibles (wood or paper), flammable liquids (gasoline or oil), and electrical (kitchen appliances or wiring). For quick access, we suggest having a 5-pound fire extinguisher in the kitchen.

For a grease fire, such as one arising from deep frying a turkey, you will need a Class K fire extinguisher, a wet chemical extinguishing agent designed to smother fires involving animal fats and grease. Using a non-Class K fire extinguisher on a fire involving animal fats and grease can result in a much larger fire or even an explosion.

Remember the acronym PASS should you ever need to use your ABC or Class K fire extinguisher:

Pull

Aim

Squeeze

Sweep 

We wish you all a happy, safe, and enjoyable Thanksgiving! For more information on preventing house fires and how monitored fire alarms could save your life, please contact us.