Safety tips for holiday home cooks: Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services

Holiday cookers need to focus on safety as much flavour, says Lethbridge Chief Fire Marshall Troy Hicks

If you’re planning to cook over the holidays, Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services (LFES) is reminding everyone to do it safely.

When preparing dinner, the fire department says to not wear loose clothing or leave the stove unattended.

If cooking with grease, it’s recommended you have a fire extinguisher or lid to cover the pot or pan in case of fire.

While turkeys do take a while to cook, LFES says someone should always be home if the oven is on.

The risk of kitchen fires continues to rise throughout the holiday season.

“It’s not necessarily that people are being naive, it’s just that we’re so involved, there’s so much going on, the people that are hosting the parties or hosting the dinners,” said Lethbridge Chief Fire Marshall Troy Hicks.

“I’m married myself,” he added, “so I know I deal with it every year – they’re so focused on wanting everything to be perfect that small things, normal things, slip your mind.

“So just making sure that people are there, that we have the time and they’re just being observant on what they’re doing will help minimize an awful lot of those fires.”

Hicks says now is also a great time to replace the batteries in your smoke alarm to ensure it’s working in case of a fire.