Thanksgiving leads to increase in kitchen fires, firefighters say

SPARTANBURG, SC (WSPA) – Lots of people cooked over the Thanksgiving vacation. Unfortunately, it could also mean an increase in house fires.

The Westview-Fairforest Fire Department said the most common fires they see are cooking fires. They said the number of calls depended on the safety of people.

“The lady had something she was cooking in the oven, it spilled over, started a fire inside the oven. It was confined to the oven so there was no damage to the house except inside the oven, ”said Captain Robert Grizzle.

Captain Robert Grizzle said at this time of year the calls tend to increase. On average, they receive 10 to 15 calls per day. On days like Thanksgiving, he said they heard the same call over and over again.

“The fire alarms, some of them came from the kitchen. When the comments come in, it’s the ovens on fire. The fire alarms go off because of the cooking, ”Grizzle said.

Firefighter Ben Diffie said the damage from kitchen fires depends on how long it takes someone to notice it.

“It depends on how much attention they pay to their kitchen and how quickly it’s going to spread. Because there is always that delay between calling us and arriving, ”Diffie said.

Diffie said their shift generally tended to be busier at night on Thanksgiving. But, when they are not fighting the fires, they are trying to celebrate the holiday with each other.

“It’s a family for us. So, you know, we get together and cook our meals. We try to make it look as much as possible as if we were gone, ”Diffie said.

Diffie said that vacation, or not, that they have a job to do and ultimately want Thanksgiving to become a safer vacation for everyone.

Diffie shares a few ways to be safer: Thaw your turkey, clean the oven, and be careful of what’s on the stove.