According to the National Fire Protection Association, Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires with more than three times the daily average for such incidents.

The Sarasota County Fire Department said that when it comes to frying the turkey, there's a couple of safety tips you should follow.

“You really need to monitor the temperature of the friar oil. A lot of these fires will occur if the temperature of the oil is too high," Sarasota County Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Haslem said. "Another common mistake is to have the turkey not fully de -frosted. A frozen turkey is going to interact pretty violently with a hot pot of oil. “

Haslem also stresses that you should not deep fry turkeys around flammable materials or anything that could easily catch on fire like inside a house, under a porch, or anywhere close to a structure that could easily catch on fire.

"We're always available for any kind of response. If you guys have any type of emergency and you need any kind of help, we definitely want you to call 911, let us come out and do what we do," he said. "One thing to remember is the majority of house fires that we experience are due to cooking fires and more specifically fried cooking fires, involving fryers and oil. Don't leave your pots unattended."

Most structure fires that the fire department runs on are cooking-related, and of those more specifically, they involve fried foods.

"One of the things you can do to be safe is have a fire extinguisher available in your home, and make sure that we're monitoring children, animals and anything that could be around the the cooking area that's flammable," Haslem said.

Additional cooking safety tips:

• Stay in the kitchen and stay alert.
• Keep an eye on what you fry. Most cooking fires start when someone is frying food.
• Make sure children and pets stay at least 3 feet away from the cooking area.
• Avoid wearing loose clothing or dangling sleeves that can catch fire if they come into contact with flame or electric burners. Also, keep objects like pot holders, oven mitts, utensils and food packaging away from the stove top. 
• If you’re using an oil fryer or grill, only use it outdoors and away from siding, deck railings and tree branches.

For more Thanksgiving fire safety information go to the National Fire Protection Association web page here.

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