Thanksgiving is the most likely day of the year for a house fire
One day of the year has 3 to 4 times more fires than any other day: Thanksgiving. As temperatures drop the number of house fires increase too but cooking fires are the leading cause.
How to not burn your house down this Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is the peak day of the year for home cooking fires — here are some life-saving tips to help you not burn down your home this holiday.
Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires in the U.S.
In 2021, fire departments across the U.S. responded to over 1,160 cooking fires alone on Thanksgiving, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). That is 297% increase in the number of cooking fires reported over the daily average.
On average, FEMA reports, roughly 3 people die from fires Thanksgiving Day every year, and 15 more are injured. Cooking fires start over 73% of those blazes.
WHERE WEATHER COULD CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR THANKSGIVING TRAVEL THIS YEAR
The vast number of Thanksgiving Day home fires start with cooking.
(National Fire Incident Reporting System / FOX Weather)
THE HISTORY OF TURKEY PARDONS AND – FOR UNPARDONED TURKEYS – WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVERS
"The leading cause of cooking fires is unattended cooking. We are all super busy. It's easy to get distracted. And that's a lot of times when people run into problems because they're not monitoring the situation that occurs while they're cooking on the stove or in the oven," said Susan McKelvey, Spokesperson for the non-profit NFPA.
"It sounds so simple, but it's so hard to do. You've really got to keep a close eye on what you're cooking, not leave the kitchen, particularly for things that are frying on the stove top or simmering, boiling," she continued.
Cooking fires
Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires year-round, 53%. A report by FEMA showed that 165 people died and 3,325 were injured by cooking fires between 2017 and 2019. That makes meal mishaps the leading cause of civilian fire injuries and the second leading cause of civilian fire deaths.
These are the leading causes of home structure fires, death and injuries year round.
(National Fire Prevention Association / FOX Weather)
WHY DO WE EAT CRANBERRY SAUCE ON THANKSGIVING?
Property loss from the 187,500 cooking fires in the report tallied up to $444 million.
Christmas, not so safe either
Christmas Day and Christmas Eve are the second and third days with the most house fires followed by New Year’s Day. Home fires are twice as likely as the daily average on those days.
Fire Departments put out about 790 home fires a year, started by decorations and 160 started by Christmas trees, according to NFPA. Lights started one in five tree fires. Decoration fires (not on the tree) kill about a person a year and injure 26 more. Christmas trees cause an average of two deaths and 11 injuries a year, as well as $12 million in property damage.
HERE ARE THE BEST COLD WEATHER SAFETY TIPS TO PREPARE FOR WINTER
Candles light about 35-45% of decoration fires. Cooking lights one out of every five decoration fires, where decorations ignite.
The chill is another reason house fires increase over the winter. FEMA suggests that a rise in heating fires and the cold drive people inside for activities.
The numbers started to creep up in October and November before peaking in January with over 10% of all residential fires. House fires hit their low in August and September.
HOW TO DEEP-FRY A TURKEY WITHOUT MAKING THE EVENING NEWS
Bars show the percentage of residential fires by month.
(NFIRS 5.0 / FOX Weather)
Prevent cooking fires
"You want to make sure that the area is clear of things that can burn," said McKelvey. "So towels, oven, packaging for food, make sure it's well away from the cooking area."
Give everyone a job, like watching the kids or getting drinks, so one person can focus on cooking. And NFPA recommends buying fried turkey instead of DIY. They set up a simulation to show how quickly outdoor cooking on a deck and under a roof can go wrong.
WHAT THANKSGIVING FOODS CAN YOU TAKE THROUGH TSA CHECKPOINTS?
Heating fires
Heating is the second leading cause of home fires and fire injuries and the top fire cause during the cooler months. Heating equipment is the third leading cause of home fire deaths. That means heating equipment starts one out of every six home fires and is responsible for one out of every five home fire deaths.
Eighty percent of home heating fire deaths are space heaters. Half of all home heating fires happen in December, January and February.
"You want to make sure that anything that can burn is at least three feet away," said McKelvey. "So particularly for portable space heaters, you want to make sure you're monitoring them really carefully. You're turning them off when you leave the room or go to sleep."
THANKSGIVING DINNER MAY COST A BIT MORE THANKS TO EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS ACROSS THE US
Firefighters battling a house fire.
(Ty O'Neil/SOPA Images/LightRocket / Getty Images)
HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER ON TV
The leading cause of heating fires is failure to clean the equipment, usually chimneys, according to NFPA. Fire departments respond to about 48,530 heating equipment fires annually, estimating $220 million of property damage.
Have an escape plan
The number of house fires per year has been dropping since 1980, but the number of fire deaths is not.
"While the number of home fires is declining, the home fire death rate has stagnated in recent years," said McKelvey. "So what we're seeing is that people, when they do have fires, they're struggling to get out."
10 THINGS TO CHANGE IN YOUR HOME WHEN YOU CHANGE THE CLOCKS
Change the batteries in smoke detectors when you change the clocks. Test the alarms regularly.
(Susan L. Angstadt/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle / Getty Images)
Working smoke alarms can help keep your family alive.
"In a typical home fire, you may have as little as two minutes to get out safely from the time the alarm sounds," continued McKelvey. "You've got to have a plan in place that everybody has practiced so that in the event of a fire is the time to get out quickly and safely."
And she said, call the fire department when you are safe, don’t spend the time trying to put out a dangerous fire yourself. Fire crews are trained and have the gear to enter a burning building. Different fires may require different extinguishers.