A cooking fire can turn a holiday feast into a family tragedy.  By making safety part of the Thanksgiving dinner recipe or other holiday meals; cooks can avoid preventable cooking fires and keep the celebration joyful."

Here are some tips to keep your family safe from cooking fires:

Stay in the kitchen while food is cooking. Most kitchen fires occur because food is left unattended. Turn off the burner if you have to leave.

Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen in case of an emergency and know how to use it.

Keep smoke alarms connected while cooking. It can be tempting to disable smoke detectors, especially if they are triggered easily. However, smoke alarms can save lives. Make sure smoke alarms are installed and working.

Be extremely cautious if using a turkey fryer. They can pose serious burn and fire hazards. If you decide to use a turkey fryer this holiday season, be extremely cautious and read all the safety tips at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission www.cpsc.gov