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Thanksgiving is the traditional day to count your blessings, but for some it is also the day to set the house on fire.
There are more home fires on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year, with fire departments responding to triple the normal number of incidents, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Not surprisingly, most of these fires originate in the kitchen from clumsy or inattentive cooks.
"The reality is the doorbell rings and your friends and relatives are at the door and you want to greet them and chat, and you just don't think to go back to the kitchen," said John Drengenberg, consumer safety director for Underwriters Laboratories, which rates the safety of products such as appliances.
Thanksgiving dinner is a big project, with the turkey in the oven and all the burners in use for side dishes. There are many people hanging around in the kitchen, drinking, chatting and distracting the cook.
It is easy to let the water boil over or the potatoes burn. Trying to put out the fire yourself can lead to injury and make the fire worse, experts said.
One way to remind yourself of the hazard is to carry around a hot pad or potholder. Each time you look down you will be reminded of the food and kitchen, Drengenberg told the reporters in a telephone interview.
The popularity of deep fried turkey has added to the fire hazards in recent years. Deep fried turkeys are boiled at searing temperatures in up to five gallons of hot oil. The practice is so hazardous for the uninitiated that not one turkey fryer has been certified as safe by Underwriters Laboratories, Drengenberg said.
While the fryers are made to operate at a temperature of around 350 degrees Fahrenheit, they can soar to as high as 670 degrees -- when the oil literally bursts into flame -- if not watched carefully.
"If you are going to use a turkey fryer, do it outside as far away from the house as possible, don't overfill the fryer with oil and never put a partially thawed turkey into the oil," Drengenberg said.
A good rule of thumb for thawing a frozen turkey in the refrigerator is to allow a day for every five pounds of meat. This means the thawing process should start days ahead of the feast, experts said.
A partially frozen turkey plunged into hot oil can send up a sudden cloud of smoke and oil that could cause a terrible burn, Drengenberg said.
(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
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(Agencies)
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感恩節是細數恩典的傳統節日，然而對某些人來說，這也是家中起火的日子。
據美國國家消防協會統計，感恩節這天的家庭火災事故數量在一年中最多，消防部門要應對比平時多兩倍的火災事故。
此類火災大多源起于廚房，是由笨拙或粗心的做飯人引起的，這一事實并不令人驚訝。
美國保險商實驗室的消費者安全部主管約翰?德仁根貝格說：“實際情況是這樣的，門鈴響了，親友們站在門口，你想去迎接他們，聊聊天，于是就想不起來要回廚房了。”保險商實驗室是一家測評電器等產品安全性的機構。
感恩節大餐是一個大工程，烤箱中架著火雞，還要用上所有的爐子來做配菜。許多人都待在廚房里，喝東西，聊天，分散了做飯人的注意力。
把水煮溢或把土豆燒糊是很容易發生的事。專家表示，試著自己滅火可能會讓自己受傷或是讓火情更嚴重。
德仁根貝格在一次電話采訪中告訴記者，提醒自己注意這一風險的辦法之一是隨身攜帶一塊隔熱墊或防燙套墊。每次你往下看時就能想起食物和廚房。
近些年來流行吃油炸火雞，這增加了火災風險。油炸火雞是放在多達5加侖的熱油中用高溫炸出來的。德仁根貝格說，對于外行人來說，這種做法十分危險，因此從來沒有一種火雞炸鍋能通過美國保險商實驗室的安全認證。
火雞炸鍋一般應在約350華氏度的溫度下使用，如果不小心讓油真的著火時，炸鍋的溫度也可能飆升到670華氏度。
德仁根貝格說：“如果你要用火雞炸鍋，就在盡可能遠離房子的戶外使用。不要往炸鍋里倒太多油，而且，千萬不要把未完全解凍的火雞放在油里。”
專家說，要給冰箱里的冰凍火雞解凍，一條很好的經驗法則是每五磅肉留出一天時間解凍。這意味著解凍的工序在節日前幾天就得開始了。
德仁根貝格說，如果把一只未完全解凍的火雞倒進熱油中，油煙會立刻竄上來，這可能會造成嚴重燒傷。
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（中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：許雅寧）
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