SALT LAKE CITY — On Thanksgiving, people across the country will be celebrating and for many, that means spending the day in the kitchen to serve their family and friends.
Utah plumbing professionals and first responders have some sound advice before people fire away on the big day.
"I don't cook 363 days out of the year. Thanksgiving is the one day the oven gets turned on," said Jon Smith, North Toole Fire District Public Information Officer.
Preparing a Thanksgiving meal can be chaotic.
"The kids are running around the doorbells ringing you're making sure that the house is clean you have a lot more distractions than you normally would on any other cooking day," said Smith.
While people are loading up their plates, sometimes a lot of that food ends up in the sink.
"Can't eat it all your eyes get bigger than your stomach and you start throwing those things down the disposable and you start getting that back up happening," said Matt Mccormick, Whipple Service Champions Drains Manager.
Whipple Service Champions explained that most calls they get over the holiday concern kitchen sink problems.
"Then we start to have a backup if it doesn't completely block up it'll slow it down, water rising up and not going down or very slowly going down even if you're running down sometimes we'll get seize up and stop working," said Mccormick.
So, what shouldn't go down the drain?
"Big one is potato peels, egg shells, people think they can cause the disposable grind them up, send them down they like to do kind of gather together and create those blockages," said Mccormick.
When it comes to grease, never pour it down the sink.
"Able to find a disposable container to put that into set and then just throw it away in the garbage," said Mccormick.
Sinks are not the only concern on a full day of cooking.
"One of the worst things that we see on Thanksgiving is we have a boiling pot of water. Kids come up and pull down the handle so make sure your handles are turned inward," said Smith.
North Tooele Fire District suggested having oven mitts on hand, baking soda and knowing how to handle kitchen fires.
"The best way to put out a grease fire, also we have our fire extinguisher at the ready," said Smith.
Should anyone experience a burn, "you want to run that burn under lukewarm water, not cold water, that's the myth," said Smith.
Some advice for those who brave the task of deep frying the turkey.
"You put a frozen turkey in that deep fryer you're going to erupt in flames so just in case you want to make sure you're outside you're on concrete," said Smith.
