Louisiana: Don’t Accidentally Burn Your House Down This Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, for most of us in Louisiana, is a time to gather with our families to eat good, watch football and celebrate all the blessings in our lives. Did I mention the amazing food? I just can't get enough pumpkin pie.

While most of us are enjoying fat turkeys, amazing pies and all the other treats and trimmings that come along with the holiday, that's not the case for everyone in the Bayou state. Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is actually one of the most dangerous days of the year in Louisiana. According to research, Louisiana has the second most ER visits on Thanksgiving day in the country. Which is pretty wild to think about.

One of the major factors in that - cooking mishaps. Not only do they cause injury, but they can some people to lose everything they have in a house fire.

The Number of House Fires More Than Double on Thanksgiving

While most of us prepare for the Cowboys & Lions games and think about what crazy thing Uncle Randy might say at dinner, there's a large number of people who suffer a preventable tragedy on Thanksgiving.

They fall asleep while cooking, absent mindedly leave a towel near the stove, try to deep fry a frozen turkey...I mean the list goes on and on. According to research, Thanksgiving is the day of the year with the most home cooking fires in the US. In fact, in 2021, cooking fires increased 297% over the daily average.

To put it in perspective - according to, FEMA on average roughly 3 people die from fires Thanksgiving Day every year, and 15 more are injured. Cooking fires start over 73% of those blazes.

Tips to Prevent a Thanksgiving House Fire in Louisiana

Now, I didn't tell you all that just to scare the heck out of you. Just something to be aware of so you don't become a statistic and ruin the holiday centered around gratitude and being thankful for everything in your life.

There are some very easy to follow tips to prevent a house fire this holiday season. In fact, here's 10 helpful tips from FEMA:

1. Stand by your pan. If you leave your kitchen, turn the burner off.
2. Keep an eye on what you fry! Most cooking fires start when frying food.
3. Roll up your sleeves. This reduces the chance that they’ll catch fire.
4. Supervise children and pets. Make sure they stay away from the stove.
5. Watch what you’re cooking! If you see any smoke, or grease starts to boil, turn the burner off.
6. If there’s an oven fire, keep the door closed. Turn off the oven and keep the door closed until it’s cool.
7. Move things that can burn away from the stove. This includes dishtowels, bags, boxes, paper and curtains.
8. Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove. This is so no one can bump them or pull them over.
9. Only use a turkey fryer outdoors. Make sure that it the fryer is on a sturdy surface, away from things that can burn.
10. Check smoke alarms. Make sure to have working smoke alarms close to where anyone may be sleeping.