Have a safe Thanksgiving holiday

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, many people will be cooking up sumptuous turkey feasts, while others will be hitting the road to visit far-off family. These fun activities can be dangerous without the proper planning and care.

Big Spring Fire Chief Craig Ferguson recently provided tips on remaining safe this Turkey Day.

“The best thing I can tell people to do, especially when they're using turkey fryers and even their ovens is, read the instructions and follow the manufacturers' guidelines to that equipment,” Ferguson said. “That's one of the most important things they can do to stay safe while they're using that stuff.”

Outdoor cooking for Thanksgiving is a trend that can produce some delicious results, but also require some special care in their use, added the chief.

“If you are going to use a turkey fryer or a grill or a smoker to prepare your turkey, do it away from the house. Don't set that stuff up underneath your porch or patio,” he said. “Stay at least 20 feet away from any structure or flammable materials. Have a fire extinguisher or water hose or bucket of water on hand just to prevent any kind of fire, or fire spread. Those are some of the biggest things I can tell people to do.”

Fire departments across the nation – and even in Big Spring – often see an upswing in fires and other accidents during the holiday season.

“During the holidays, we see an increase in house fires and injuries due to cooking, and house fires because people at Christmastime and during the holidays, they're decorating their homes and so they're using more electricity,” Ferguson said. “They'll put extension cords underneath rugs and whatnot.

They're not using the manufacturers' guidelines for the proper use of those appliances. That's why we'll see an uptick. Here in Big Spring and Howard County we'll have on average a couple of fires during the holidays due to these kind of things. One or two. Most of the time, thankfully, it's minor and the damage is contained to a small area most of the time.”

The chief advised local residents to make sure their safety devices are in working order.

“With the holidays, we have a lot of people that are home and are visiting family: Make sure your smoke detectors and stuff have batteries and are working properly, so that in an emergency you can be alerted early on,” he said.

Of course, holiday travel is a big cause of accidents.

“Lots of traffic on the road when we're going to travel to see our families,” said Chief Ferguson. “Check your car out, make sure it's mechanically sound, that your tires have air pressure, that you have enough gasoline to get to where