Thanksgiving is one of the most dangerous times of year for fires. It is only slightly behind July Fourth and New Year.

Who knew, turkeys get revenge by helping burn your house down? Many turkeys are set on fire while either deep fat frying or baking for Thanksgiving. Know the dangers and know the ways to Be prepared for the hidden dangers of Thanksgiving Turkeys.

With a few simple and logical things, you can be ready and keep your holiday safe and fun.

Be prepared for the hidden dangers of Thanksgiving Turkeys.

1. Change Batteries in Smoke Detector

2. Test Fire Extinguisher

3. Think Ahead

4. Take Steps to Keep Things Safe

Consider this:

Your family is all home for Thanksgiving. The kitchen is in full swing. The Thanksgiving turkey is in the oven, and all the side dishes are heating on the stove. Now the family goes outside to enjoy the wonderful fall weather until the food is ready. Everyone is having a good time, sitting around talking, sharing stories, and overall just having a nice family time.

Then disaster strikes. Someone sets off the call of alarm, there is smoke coming from the house. The turkey overcooked, the grease spilled out into the stove and now there is a fire blazing in the house. And no one noticed until it was too late.

All of this could have been avoided with a few simple steps in advance.

1. Change Batteries in Smoke Detector

Had the smoke detector been working it would have screamed out in warning when the first sparks had started.

2. Test Fire Extinguisher

If you had a working fire extinguisher, a few quick bursts of foam, and the fire could have been contained.

3. Think Ahead

Had anyone thought ahead and made sure the safety equipment was working properly, this situation and ones similar to this one could easily be avoided or at least taken in hand.

4. Take Steps to Keep Things Safe

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Taking steps to avoid this kind of thing altogether would be best.

1. Having someone on oven watch should be a standard in any cooking family. Never leave food alone in the oven or on the stovetop. So many lost homes could be avoided with a little vigilance.

2. When cooking your turkey in the deep fat fryer, keep things safe and avoid other kinds of disaster. Do your turkey frying outside, in an open place away from walls, plants, cars, and anything else that can be flammable.

3. Keep the deep fat fryer away from foot traffic. The worst burns are from hot oil. Be sure to keep kids and pets away from the hot oil to avoid serious injury. Of course, the adults that are tending the deep fat frying turkey should keep their heads on and keep their focus to avoid getting themselves hurt.

Also To Note:

As the holiday comes in, the number of tamales cooked increases dramatically. If you are making Tamales do not wash your grease down the drain. It will stop the drains and cause water backup issues. In large cities, this can be a real issue for the water and sewage pipes.

Thanksgiving should be a great time for family, friends, and fun. Keep it that way, and Be prepared for the hidden dangers of Thanksgiving Turkeys. Please consider these things when you are setting up your Thanksgiving eat-together. Preventing accidents and disasters is so much better than trying to pick up the pieces after.

No one wants their holidays each year to be a reminder of something terrible. There are already too many terrible things that go on in the world, do not let your Thanksgiving family eat-together become one of them.

For more home safety and winter prep info, please check out our talk on How to Prep Your Home for the Fall and Winter Now.

Here is a quick checklist you can screenshot and print out.  You can add other items as you need to.

We hope you have enjoyed this talk on how to Be prepared for the hidden dangers of Thanksgiving Turkeys.  Please do keep these things in mind and keep an eye out for any of these things that need to be tended to in your home.

Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.