Fire Chief Warns of Turkey Burning Season

Written by Chief Ed Gratrix | 21 November 2011

Turkey burning season!

It’s the season fireighter dread the most, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Our residents light candles, move trees into our homes, decorate with paper and plastic, drink alcohol and cook in strange and unusual ways.

I’m talking about the deep fried turkey equipment. Yep! It tastes outstanding but between a rock hard frozen fowl to that tender meal is a world of danger waiting for just one moment of inattentiveness.

Every time before you deep fry a turkey, please read the instructions and follow them religiously. The weight of the bird, the amount of oil, the temperature, the thaw condition of the bird all matter, a lot! Every manufacturer uses different ratio’s so pay attention. Get the right size bird, set the oil level and temperature properly. This is not the time to experiment. If you want to be chef-de-jour, do it with the spices, not the cooking.

The deep frying apparatus can be precarious, you have to make sure it does not rock or tip over particularly if something slips from your hand or goes awry. Preplan everything, move the cooking location away from your home and out from under any overhangs. The garage is NOT where we should be cooking anything any time of year.

Have a fire extinguisher that works for oil and grease fires. You’ll know them as they are labeled with a letter ‘B’ on them. Some will say ABC, some AB or BC. Make sure the extinguisher it’s less than five years old and keep it nearby and be prepared to use it from a distance.

If the oil over boils over, the end result will likely be a gigantic fireball that spreads upward and outward in a second or two. State Farm has a fantastic video with William Shatner on 'you tube' that shows just how bad this can get (See Video Below). Search the internet and you'll find it.

The conventional cooking people are not out of the woods. Each year Trumbull’s fireman get a last minute invitation to a holiday festival (via 911) because someone forgot to remove the remainder of the food from the oven before it was set on self clean.

If you choose to ignore our warnings we do ask that you bake extra pies for our fireman as we may be skipping out from our families dinner to join yours. Rough estimate is perhaps 20 very hungry people.

Be safe!

Ed Gratrix

Chief of the Department

Written by :

Chief Ed Gratrix