It’s the holiday season – a stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas and other holidays, parties and happenings that provide the most opportunity for unwanted kitchen and cooking blazes, a member of the Williamsport Bureau of Fire said.

“You have most of your fires between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Stephen Yonkin, fire inspector with the Williamsport Bureau of Fire.

He offered context to why kitchen and cooking fires are more frequent during the holiday season.

“It is because anytime human beings exist outside of their normal pattern, that is when tragedy occurs – because we get so used to doing the same thing over and over,” he said in an interview that is recorded on YouTube by Sun-Gazette staff.

“As soon as you modify that a little bit, that is when problems happen.

“People are creatures of habit,” he said. “Kitchen and cooking fires are the number one cause of residential fires,” he added.

These fires occur for several different reasons. One of them is during the holidays people are outside of their normal patterns.

“You have more people in your home, you’re stressed out because you’re not sure if everything is thawed or if you have enough chairs for the kids,” he said. “So you’ve got a lot going on, and you’re not paying attention to the hot, flaming thing that is on the stove.”

His number one recommendation: “Stay in the kitchen while you’re cooking,” he said. “If something should happen, if you can address it immediately, that’s ideal.”

Secondly, have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, make sure all smoke detectors are functional, and keep flammable things away from the stove.

“That is not a place where we store paper towels, or our mail or paper plates or cups … you want to keep that whole area clean and clear,” Yonkin stressed.

Another safety tip is to “make sure pot handles are turned inward, right, so we don’t have little hands grabbing them.”

To further explore that idea, because maybe there will be more children running around in the home, an interesting idea that Yonkin offered is taking blue painters tape, a very cheap but effective technique, and blocking out a kid-free zone.

“Put that right on the linoleum and pull it right up when you are done,” he said.

“It is simple and you can reward the kids with a little cookie or a little prize at the end of the day if they adhere to that rule. That gives children a visual reminder about what areas of the kitchen could potentially be dangerous with the stove, hot plates, knives, other things that we don’t want them in, especially if they’re not accustomed to our home,” he said.

Another recommendation Yonkin offered is before the process of starting to cook begins make sure stove tops are clean, make sure the inside of the oven is clean from all the grease and build up that can be in there.

Another tip is to use a timer, “so we are not going to burn things if we have a timer,” Yonkin said.

“You can use your smart phone or you can use a simple egg timer,” he said.

What may seem fairly obvious, but happens all of the time is when individuals are tired when they are cooking, he said.

“Don’t fall asleep while you’re cooking,” Yonkin implored.

“Keep lids nearby, so if there is a problem of a flame up or if cooking with grease, the pot can always be covered,” he said.

Never, never, never throw water on a grease fire,” he said. “That will only splash the grease,” he said. “That hot grease can hit you, it can spread around the kitchen and cause a much worse incident than you had previously had.”

Another option is a fire blanket. “You can just throw that over the fire and it will snuff it out. Some people opt for that because then afterwards you don’t have the products and agents that would be inside the fire extinguisher,” he said.

“When you are shopping for a fire extinguisher you want to use an A, B C fire extinguisher,” Yonkin noted.

“That means it can be used on ordinary combustibles, flammable liquids and electrical fires,” he said.

“You can also get a Class K fire extinguisher which is specifically designed for grease fires, however, they are a bit more expensive,” he added.

“Make sure your smoke alarms are tested and are functional,” Yonkin stressed.

Another cooking safety tip is long sleeves. Should you have grease or something splash or splatter back you are not going to get burned on your skin, he said.

“I really enjoy my job and the people I work with are dedicated as well,” he said. “We truly believe in making sure people are safe. If you encounter situations where you live and you want us to come take a look and just do a simple inspection, give you some tips, if you see something that is unsafe, reach out to us.”

“We are a paid department,” he said. “Somebody is there 24-7, and your concerns will be taken seriously.”