Red Cross shares holiday cooking fire safety tips

FINDLAY — Thanksgiving is one of the top days for home cooking fires in the United States, with the day before also ranking high. Cooking for the holiday causes an average of 158,400 home fires per year, which is 44% of all home fires in the United States. The American Red Cross of North Central Ohio is reminding families to follow safety steps to prevent fires while preparing their holiday meals. "People in the kitchen and everything else going on, it gets distracting," said Todd James, executive director of the Red Cross region that serves Erie, Hancock, Huron, Lorain, Putnam, Seneca and Wyandot counties. "Unfortunately that happens way too often." So it's vital that all homes have working smoke alarms, he said. The Home Fire Campaign — a program that installs free smoke alarms in homes and provides fire safety information — is still going strong since it started in October 2014. "Anybody who needs them, just reach out, contact our office, let us know and we'll send one of our teams out," said James. If the home already has alarms, the team will check them and make sure they're all still in good working order. If new batteries are needed, they will replace them. But a lot of the time, the team replaces alarms or puts up new ones where there were none before. "We'll take down the old ones if they're not hard-wired. We don't touch hard-wire alarms because of the electricity and the electrical work involved," James explained. "We'll take down the old ones and get rid of them if you want us to, and we'll put up new ones." The campaign provides 10-year smoke alarms that contain a lithium ion battery. "It's a solid unit. You don't have to worry about opening it and replacing the battery. You can't. You can't open it. So you don't have to worry about the battery going off and dying and the alarm beeping every nine months or whatever," he said. That way, once they're installed, the Red Cross will know it's up there for the next decade. "The residents still need to be checking them. We'll tell them regularly to make sure everything's working OK. But you don't have to worry about putting a battery in it or changing the batteries for 10 years or so," he said. James said they will not install a smoke alarm in the kitchen, instead placing it somewhere nearby since a lot of food items may cause smoke. "And then people take them out. They take the batteries out and then they never get put back up again. So we avoid putting them in the kitchen itself," he said. Since the campaign started, over two million smoke alarms have been installed nationwide. James said it's also been documented that the program has saved at least 2,519 lives across the country by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans and installing smoke alarms. "And people might not know this, but with this campaign, if you have people in your home who are facing hearing difficulties, we have alarms specifically for folks who have hearing challenges. We call them a bed shaker alarm," he said. It's an expensive alarm, but they will be installed free of charge for those who need it, said James. The unit connects to the smoke alarm via Bluetooth. "You take this little unit we're going to give you, It kind of looks like an alarm clock. You literally put it under your mattress, and if it goes off, it is going to shake the bed to wake you up. That's why we call it a bed shaker," said James. The program is available to everyone at no cost, regardless of income. Along with having working smoke alarms, families need to have emergency escape plan, James said. "The whole family needs to know what the plan is and that they've practiced it and are aware of it because when a smoke alarm goes off, you've got two minutes or less to safely get out of the house when there's a fire," he said. "So it's not a matter of taking time to go get things or run around the house trying to find stuff," he added. "When that alarm goes off, everybody in the house needs to know you leave the house, wherever the nearest escape route that you have identified is, go to your meeting place and call 911." The team will also help residents make a home escape plan and go over other emergency information to help people prepare for things like floods, and storms. Safety for the Holidays When it comes to cooking for the holiday, the Red Cross offers several safety tips: stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling or broiling food; use a timer to remind yourself that the stove or oven is on; avoid wearing loose clothing while cooking; keep children and pets at least three feet away from cooking areas; and keep flammable items away from heat sources. Regularly clean cooking surfaces to prevent grease buildup and consider having a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. And always check the kitchen before going to bed or leaving home to make sure all stoves, ovens and small appliances are turned off. Also read the directions on utensils and kitchen tools — such as a turkey fryer, he said. "They tell you to fully thaw the turkey and don't drop a frozen turkey into hot oil because it's just going to go up like a volcano. Then oil is going to go everywhere," said James. "So you need to be familiar with how to properly use the turkey fryer. If you do that, then you can have a good, safe Thanksgiving and a delicious fried turkey." "The holidays are a busy time, especially if you're hosting family and friends, and the kitchen is a natural gathering place," said James. "We all tend to gravitate to the kitchen. We're snacking, we're talking, and that's great. The holidays are a good time to have fun and see friends and catch up," he said. "But if you're cooking, you really need to be focused on that. And unfortunately, the distractions can lead to fires which can lead to ruined holidays and tragedies we want to avoid." For more information about the Home Fire Campaign, call the office at 419-422-9322. For more cooking safety tips, visit redcross.org/fire.