Pahrump Fire Chief Scott Lewis said Thanksgiving Day is the peak day for home cooking fires.
As such, Lewis offered area residents tips on how to avoid potential safety hazards in the home.
He noted that unattended cooking was by far the leading contributing factor in cooking fires.
“From a burn perspective, you want to make sure that kids and animals are kept away from the cooking areas in the kitchen,” Lewis said. “You want to make sure that you don’t have an overabundance of people in the kitchen that can cause disturbances or tripping hazards.”
Lewis said those preparing dinners need to be mindful of the positioning of pots and pans on the stovetop.
“You want to make sure that all of the pot handles are turned away from the edges and are inward,” he said. “You also want to make sure that all of the cooking and the baking are timed and that they are checked periodically to make sure they’re not boiling out or over or even actually burning.”
An action as simple as removing a dish from the oven can also present potential hazards such as splash-related burns.
Lewis also said never leave the kitchen area unattended while preparing dinner.
“You always want to keep an eye on what’s going on in the kitchen all of the time,” he said.
At least one popular trend in preparing the Thanksgiving turkey has proven over the years to be an extreme hazard, if not done properly.
“As far as those who prefer to deep fry their turkey, they want to be extremely careful,” he said. “That should be done outside away from any structures. You also want to make sure that anyone who is observing the turkey stays a safe distance away. You also want to have a fire extinguisher in close proximity. You never want to try to extinguish that type of fire with a water hose because it is a grease fire and you can add additional injuries and property damage.”
In the event of a kitchen fire, Lewis reminded homeowners to immediately call 911 after everyone is out of the residence.
“You want to make sure everyone is safe and accounted for and immediately call 911,” Lewis said. “You never want to allow anyone to go back inside the residence if there is a fire condition. With smoke alarms, you want to make sure the batteries are functional. Some people tend to disconnect them and forget to reconnect the smoke alarm. All families want to make sure there’s a fire exit plan in place and regularly practiced.”
Beginning today Lewis and his crew will again perform an annual service for homebound seniors in the valley.
“We will be delivering turkey dinners to homebound seniors in the community,” he said. “Over the years, we found that it such a great project to do as we work with the Pahrump Senior Center on that effort. We have been doing that since I’ve been here and we always look forward to it every year and the interaction with the seniors is wonderful. We can’t say enough good things about them.”
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @sharrispvt