|
|
|
Last Updated: Nov 19, 2008 - 9:57:33 AM |
I thought that I would try to be a bit proactive this Thanksgiving and talk about the cooking before the cooking begins. You probably have a wonderful meal planned for Thanksgiving Day, turkey and all the trimmings. We just bought our turkey for Thanksgiving in the fire station, as a matter of fact. If you are like my wife or my mom, they want everything just right. This is the time of the year where family gatherings are the norm. The question is, just how many guests did you plan for? Let’s see, the relatives, some friends, and maybe even a neighbor or two. One distraction while cooking and you could instantly have sixteen more guests arriving right at meal time. These sixteen guests represent the first alarm assignment that will come to your house in the event of a kitchen fire.
Kitchen fires continue to be the leading cause of residential fires in the country, and probably around the globe. Most kitchen fires are caused by unattended cooking. Practically every day that we come to work, our units or other units in the county respond to food left cooking, unattended, on a stove or in an oven. Some fires burn the food and pan; some fires burn the cabinets around the stove; some fires destroy the kitchen; other fires destroy the entire home.
Since many of you are oblivious to the high potential and probability of a fire occurring in your home, especially when Thanksgiving prompts a great deal of cooking, I will state it like this: when a fire occurs in your home, you must make the right decisions to protect you and your family. Let’s use the pan of grease on the stove that catches fire. Do not attempt to remove the hot or burning pot or pan from the house. You should cover the pan, and turn off the burner, if it is safe to do so. You should be notifying your family to get out of the house if the smoke alarm is not activating. By the way, why isn’t the smoke alarm activating? Fire extinguishment and smoke removal are not your job, but they are ours. Once outside, call 911. Do not re-enter your burning home for any reason once you are safely outside.
You may notice that I have not spoken about turkey fryer safety, so let’s talk about it. If you have never used one before, wait until next year. Seriously, you need to read the instructions carefully. If the weather is bad outside, do not bring the fryer inside. Do not overfill the pot with oil; leave room for the turkey. Oil and water do not mix in more ways than one. You must know how to shut off the heat source immediately. Be very careful not to get splashed by spattering grease. If you do get burned, start with large quantities of water to cool the burn and stop the burning process.
I pray that you will have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday. Take the time to reflect and thank God for all of His wonderful blessings during this past year. In spite of the problems we face, we have much to be thankful for. Thankful eyes give this world a much different perspective. May God bless each of you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.
© Copyright by Village Publishing
Top of Page Comment
on This Article
The
Village News office is located at 4607 West Hundred Road Chester
Mailing address is PO Box 2397 Chester, VA 23831
Phone: 751-0421 Fax: 751-9155
Office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday call ahead for
other hours.
Statement
of Journalistic Ethics
|
|
|
Village News:
Read right 'round the world.
|
|
