It seems appropriate on this, the final day of Fire Prevention Week, in the middle of the weekend where many people spend a lot of time in the kitchen making their Thanksgiving feast, that Deputy Fire Chief Linda Masson tells us the greatest number of structure fires in Airdrie start in the kitchen.  

"Most of the structure fires that occur here in Airdrie are usually cooking related," Masson explains.  "I would say that would be our number one issue."

The majority of kitchen fires result from leaving your stove unattended.  At least, that's what Masson suspects.  "It's really hard for us to say.  Most people don't tell us why they've got a fire in the kitchen.  It does tend to be unattended and it gets away on them. That's one thing we really want people to focus on, to make sure when they're cooking they stay close by and attentive."

Masson says, other than sticking close to the stove, there are other ways to ensure you don't have a kitchen fire.  She says to make sure that there is nothing on your stove that could ignite such as paper towels or a tea towel hung on the oven door.  It's probably not a great idea to use a kitchen towel as a potholder since often the ends can touch a hot burner and ignite.

Masson says to always have a lid for your pot handy.  "If your pot does catch on fire, you can always slide the lid across and smother the flames. We ask people not to put things on the back of their stove where they have to reach across the hot area to get something such as salt and pepper.  Always watch when you're cooking that your sleeves are rolled up or you have tight-fitting sleeves that won't catch on fire if you're stirring."

With the focus of the weekend on family, food, and fun, Masson wants to be sure that a fourth "f," fire, doesn't become part of your weekend, particularly when it comes to the highlight of your dinner, the turkey.  

"If your turkey does spill over and the grease catches on fire, make sure you shut the door and try to get rid of the oxygen that feeds that fire," says Masson.  "We always recommend that you have a small fire extinguisher in your kitchen and always make sure that you have egress, your back to the door and the fire extinguisher between you and the fire so that, if it doesn't work you can get out.  If it gets out of hand and you can't manage it, get out of the house and call 911."

Masson says the second biggest cause of structure fires, particularly during the last two summers, has been fires on decks.  Most often those types of fires are started when smoking materials aren't properly disposed of. 

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