As you prepare to sizzle your Thanksgiving bird, the Owensboro Fire Department has a simple message: don’t turn your family feast into a fiery fiasco. Frying a turkey can be dangerous, so OFD is offering a few hot tips on how to keep things safe this week.
“The most important thing is to make sure you’re in attendance, make sure you keep the kids and pets away, and make sure you do it outside,” OFD Battalion Chief Steve Leonard said of frying a turkey. Those three points are the major things.”
Leonard emphasized that cooks should avoid frying their turkey in a structure or on something combustible. He said to always stay far away from structures and use a firm surface to prevent the fryer from tipping over, which could lead to the spreading of a fire.
“The biggest reason we have fires from these is because of the boilover. People put the turkeys in there, and they don’t realize that they put so much oil in there that it goes over the top, gets into a flame, and causes the fire to start spreading,” he said.
Leonard said if there is a fire, it will be classified as Class B, meaning that water will only cause the grease fire to spread. He said an ABC fire extinguisher should be in every home to handle that type of fire.
Leonard said the number one priority if a fire occurs is to turn off the propane first to prevent the risk of a second fire involving the propane tank.
