SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — Christopher Koeing is taking a different approach to his turkey this Thanksgiving.
“We are smoking a turkey on a Traeger this year on the pellet grill so it’s the first time we’ve done it,” said Koeing.
Smoker safety is top of mind for Koeing. Three Thanksgivings ago his neighbor’s home caught fire from cooking in the garage. News 5 cameras were rolling when the fire broke out.
“We saw it from our backyard, and it was a scary thing luckily no one was hurt,” said Koeing. “We just make sure it’s not in the garage and outside we have a fire extinguisher in case we need one.”
Fire officials warn to avoid any cooking in the garage. South Euclid Fire Department was seeing an increase in garage-related fires over the summer holidays, but luckily that trend is going down.
“So, the trends have died down, and I believe with the great interaction that we've had with your news and media outlet has really put eyes on what was happening with that.” said Scott Sebastian, Fire Inspector, South Euclid Fire Department. “Just by me going on to the public, I was getting a lot of recognition of people saying, “Hey, I saw that story. It caused me to walk through my garage to look at some of the hazards that I might have my garage,” and they were eliminated.”
Whether you’re cooking today or in the coming weeks for Hanukkah or Christmas, follow these tips: use timers, keep items like oven mitts, wooden utensils, food wrappers, and towels 3 feet away from the cooking area, avoid wearing long sleeves while cooking, try and keep kids out of the kitchen, and if frying or smoking a turkey, do it outside, not in a garage or underneath a plastic tent.
“You're using a very high-level temperature greases, what you're doing is you're using a propane flame, with a pot on top of it with hot grease and it's usually about 3 to 5 gallons of grease, which is a lot of grease and can heat up to a certain temperature,” said Sabastian. “You want to make sure that those levels are also at a certain point because if they submerge the turkey, it could overflow resulting in a flash fire.”
Koeing is making sure to follow all the right rules so nothing, not even a fire, can stand in the way of his family time.
“It’s one of my favorites, it’s kind of how we kick off the whole holiday season, Christmas and everything,” said Koeing. “We have family over and just get together and enjoy a good meal.”
Remember if you have to ask yourself if something is safe when it comes to cooking, frying, or lighting up holiday decorations, fire officials say odds are it probably isn't. In case of any fire emergency, call 911.
