Maryville, Mo. — It probably won't come as a surprise to anyone that Thanksgiving remains the worst day of the year for cooking-related household fires.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, three times as many cooking fires break out on Turkey Day as the daily average for the rest of the year.
In fact, cooking equipment fires in general are the leading cause of residential blazes and fire-related injuries in the United States and the third leading cause of fire deaths. On Thanksgiving Day in 2008, fire departments across the country responded to 1,300 home cooking fires, compared to a daily average that year of 420.
In Maryville, thankfully, this most food-centered of holidays is seldom interrupted by the scream of fire sirens, according to Maryville Public Safety Fire Division Director Phil Rickabaugh. That doesn't mean, however, that incidents don't happen, or that people shouldn't be careful.
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