Thanksgiving  is a holiday tradition where family and friends come together and celebrate over a home cooked meal. Unfortunately it’s also the worst day of the year for home cooking fires. According to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), home cooking fires on Thanksgiving Day had three times the national average of  fires per day in 2009.

With Thanksgiving being so close, now is a good time to reach out to your community in an effort to promote fire safety, not just during the holidays but everyday.

NFPA states that, “Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and related injuries. In 2005-2009, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 155,400 home fires per year involving cooking equipment. These fires caused an annual average of 390 civilian deaths, 4,800 civilian injuries, and $771 million in direct property damage.”

To reduce the risk of cooking fires this holiday, NFPA recommends the following safety tips:

1. Keep anything that can catch fire such as oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains away from the stovetop.
2. Always stay in the kitchen while frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you have to leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
3. When simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
4. Stay alert. If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol, don’t use the stove or stovetop.

Click here for more holiday safety tips from NFPA.