Orange County firefighters provide safety tips for Thanksgiving cooking

ORANGE COUNTY (KABC) -- The Orange County Fire Authority demonstrated how not to fry a turkey this Thanksgiving, as well as showed people how to avoid other holiday hazards.

In one demonstration, a firefighter dropped a frozen turkey into a vat of hot oil, which caused it to spill over. Then flames erupted around the pot and caused a flash boil.

"There are over 4,000 responses to home-cooking fires throughout the country on Thanksgiving day that makes it the busiest day when it comes to home fires," Capt. Larry Kurtz said.

The OCFA and Orange County Global Medical Center teamed up to teach people about dozens of hazards. Most of them are caused in the kitchen by hot oil and mistakes, which can result in serious injury.

"During the holiday season, these types of injuries - cooking injuries - quadruple compared to the rest of the year," said Dr. Andrea Dunkelman, with the center.

OCFA officials said frying a turkey requires one that is thawed at medium heat with less oil in a pot. If a fire does break out, firefighters want people to have the right tools.

"They forget how to put these fires out. The first thing they reach for is a glass of water. As we all know, water is the last thing you want to put on these fires," Kurtz said.

Dunkelman added that oil burns are worse than regular burns because the liquid is hotter and can cause deeper burns.

Burn doctors also stress supervising children at all times, especially around the kitchen. The doctors and firefighters hope for a quiet turkey day because it means people are safe.

They also remind people to always have a fire extinguisher on hand.