Thanksgiving can lead to dangerous home fires

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – You are preparing a great Thanksgiving meal when suddenly you burn the turkey and at the same time set fire to your house.According to the National Fire Protection Association Thanksgiving is the peak day of the year in the U.S. for home cooking fires. In 2024, an estimated 1,139 home cooking fires were reported across the nation. It’s a 321% increase over the daily average. Christmas Day and Christmas Eve are numbers 2 and 3 on the list. According to the NFPA from 2020-2024, 80% of all fires reported on Thanksgiving involves cooking equipment, frequently with turkey fryers. Cooking equipment fires account for 35% of the associated civilian injuries, although there were no deaths over that time period.People often don’t realize you can’t drop a frozen turkey into a fryer filled with oil because of the flames it creates which can burn people and cause a structure fire. The NFPA strongly discourages the use of cooking oil in a turkey fryer which can cause devastati