OREM, Utah - Orem firefighters and Orem police officers teamed up to learn how to fry a turkey the right way and the wrong way.
Of the dozen or so firefighters, no one at the demonstration had ever fried a turkey before- so it was a lesson for everyone involved as well as everyone watching.
Here are some rules you should follow when frying a turkey:
1. Never fry a frozen turkey.
2. Always make sure your turkey is completely thawed and dried out. Do not let moisture drip from it.
3. Before you light the fryer, place the thawed turkey into the pot then pour the cooking oil into it – that way when you boil the oil then place the turkey in the pot, the oil will not rise too high and spill out.
4. Never fry your turkey in a closed off area.
5. Use an open space with no roof top nearby.
6. Make sure bystanders are standing far away from the frying turkey.
7. Always keep someone watching the turkey as it fries.
Orem Fire Captain Seth Swenson said every time he arrives at a Thanksgiving holiday turkey disaster, it never ends well.
“I have worked here 11 and a half years… I've been on a couple (turkey fires) before; one was even a fatality in a house fire from a turkey fire specifically,” said Swenson.
They said kitchen fires go up 230 percent on Thanksgiving Day. Orem Fire reported that nationally last year, there were 4,300 fires on Thanksgiving Day, 15 deaths and $27 million in property damage.
For more kitchen safety tips this year:
http://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Seasonal-fires/Thanksgiving-safety
