WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is alerting consumers that the threat
of fires in the kitchen triples on Thanksgiving Day. From 2009 through
2011, there was an average of about 1,300 cooking fires on Thanksgiving
Day. This is more than three times the average daily rate from 2009
through 2011 of about 400 cooking fires a day.
“As fire safety experts have
said for years, ‘Stand by your pan!’” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum.
“If you are frying, grilling or broiling food, stay in the kitchen. Not
following this advice can be a recipe for disaster on Thanksgiving and
throughout the year.” When it comes to fires in the home,
cooking fires are number one. They accounted for nearly 150,000 fires
(more than 40 percent of all annual unintentional residential fires)
each year from 2009 through 2011. Unattended cooking is the top cause
of cooking fires. Cooking fires also caused the most home fire-related
injuries, with an estimated annual average of nearly 27 percent, or
3,450 injuries each year.
Overall, CPSC estimates an average of 362,300 unintentional
residential fires, 2,260 deaths, 12,820 injuries and nearly $7 billion
in property damage attended by the fire service occurring each year
between 2009 and 2011.
To stay safe in the kitchen,
avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing with long sleeves near ranges or
ovens, watch children closely so they don’t come into contact with
cooking food or hot stovetops, turn pan handles toward the back of the
stove to prevent kids and others from spilling a pan’s scalding contents
onto themselves.
In the event of a fire, call
911. Cover a pan with a lid to smother the flames. Never pour water or
flour on a fire. That can make it worse. Keep a fire extinguisher in the
kitchen.
“Turkey fryer fires can be explosive and result in
serious burns,” said Glenn Gaines, Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator for
the United States Fire Administration (USFA). “Only use a turkey fryer
outside and away from your home. Never use it in a garage or on a porch.
Don’t overfill the oil or leave the turkey fryer unattended.”
Since 2003, there have been more than 125 turkey fryer-related fires,
burns, explosions, smoke inhalations, or laceration incidents reported
to CPSC staff. There were 55 injuries among these incidents, but none
were fatal. For the incidents reporting a dollar value for the property
loss, the total loss reported was around $6 million. Additional
incidents involving turkey fryers may have occurred that were not
reported to CPSC.
Consumers should also protect themselves by installing smoke alarms
in their homes. “Roughly three out of five home fire deaths happen in
homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms,” said Jim
Shannon, President of the National Fire Protection Association. “Smoke
alarms save lives. Having a working smoke alarm cuts the chances of
dying in a fire in half.”
Change the batteries in smoke alarms at least once every year and test the alarms every month to make sure they are working.
To provide a better warning of a fire and more escape time, install
more than one alarm and interconnect all smoke alarms in the home.
Interconnected alarms speak to one another, so if there is a fire in
one part of the house, the interconnected alarms sound throughout the
house and alert consumers to the fire more quickly.
For the best protection,
install alarms on every level of the home, outside sleeping areas and
inside each bedroom, and use both ionization and photoelectric alarms.
Alarms that are powered by house wiring should have a battery backup.
Smoke alarms provide the
warning, but every family should have a fire escape plan as well.
Practice the escape plan with everyone in the house so they can get out
quickly. The escape plan should include two ways out of each room (as
practical) and a family meeting place that is outside where everyone can
meet if there is a fire in the home.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with
protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death
associated with the use of
thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s
jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer
product incidents cost the
nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to
protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire,
electrical, chemical or
mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of
consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters
and household
chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths
and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a
publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory
recall ordered by the
Commission.
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