Everyone loves a delicious holiday meal, but it can also increase the risk for home fires. According to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires. The Queen Creek Fire & Medical Department (QCFMD) offers the following cooking safety tips to help reduce the risk of a fire this Thanksgiving:
- Keep anything that can catch fire away from the heat source (oven mitts, food packaging, etc.).
- Stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling or boiling food. If you must leave the room, turn off the stove.
- Be sure to thaw the turkey completely before cooking.
- Keep kids at least three feet away from the stove, oven, hot food and liquids.
- If you have a pan fire, place a lid on the pan and turn off the burner. Never throw water or use a fire extinguisher on a pan fire.
- If the fire does not go out or you don’t feel comfortable sliding a lid over the pan, get everyone out of your home. Call the fire department from outside.
The Town of Queen Creek offers a free recycling program for cooking oil. Cooking oil should never be dumped down a drain or disposed of in the trash, garbage containers, dumpsters, or down the public sewage system. Cooking oil poured down the drain negatively affects water quality and can cost thousands of dollars in sewer repairs from pipe blockages. Placing oil in your trash or recycling carts leads to contamination and spillage. It also has the potential to cause cart fires or fires in the collection vehicles.
Residents can recycle used cooking oil at no charge at the Town’s year-round grease collection sites, Fire Station 2 (24787 S. Sossaman Road) and the QC Recycle Center (22638 S. Ellsworth Road).
It’s also important to ensure smoke alarms are installed and working. Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area (like a hallway), and on each level (including the basement). Test smoke alarms at least once a month by pushing the test button and replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old.
For additional safety information, visit QueenCreekAZ.gov/SafetyTips.
