The Seattle Fire Department reminds residents to be mindful of fire safety during this holiday season. Holiday-related home fires primarily involve cooking, heating and electrical sources. Thanksgiving is the leading day for home cooking-related fires.

Keep these tips in mind this Thanksgiving Holiday:
• Check on food regularly while cooking – unattended cooking is the number one cause of home fires
• Keep children at least 3 feet away for the stove
• Unplug kitchen electrical items which have a heating element such as coffee pots, rice cookers and toasters, when not in use
• Extinguish candles before leaving the room and before going to bed, or better yet, use flameless candles instead.
• Give your heaters space- baseboard heaters need 1 foot clearance and portable space heaters should have 3 feet clearance
• If a fire starts on the stove, cover it with a lid or metal cookie sheet and turn the stove off. Don’t throw water on a grease fire.

Turkey fryer safety tips from the National Fire Protection Association can be found here. http://sparky.org/parentpage/pdf/Final_Fryer.pdf

For more information, contact Public Education at fireinfo@seattle.gov