Written by Roxy Hernandez / Staff Writer
Thanksgiving is a popular holiday for American families. It’s a time to be thankful for all that is
giving to them, bond with family, and of course eat a lot of good food. What most people don’t know is, if they’re not careful enough, the beautiful time of Thanksgiving could potentially be dangerous.
“I think Thanksgiving is beautiful Holiday.” Alexis Castillo said. “It’s just about food, friends, and family. I never really thought about how dangerous it could be.”
The most obvious danger out there is in the kitchen. Knives, hot oils, heated pans, and other possibly harmful items are out in the open.
“Just the other day, I touched a hot pan by accident,” Brandon Guzman said. “During Thanksgiving, there is a lot more heated pans and trays because there is so much more food to cook. My hand still hurts, so I won’t be cooking anytime soon.”
A popular way to cook a Turkey is deep-frying, which is a cooking technique when a food is completely submerged in hot oil. This is one of the most dangerous techniques of Thanksgiving. The heated oil can cause third degree burns if it splashes onto the skin.
In an article, Tips to avoid deep-frying dangers on Thanksgiving by The Indy Channel, it states “[Fire department Captain Mike] Pruitt said the biggest mistake people make is that the turkey is still partially frozen. He said people also tend to add too much oil.”
Other dangers include babies and young children. If they remain unmonitored for long periods of time, they may wander into the kitchen and touch a hot pan or a knife.
“I get really nervous when people leave knives around without putting them away,” Belen Lopez said. “Kids could easily come and pick one up, or someone could accidentally hurt themselves if they don’t see it.”
Keep pets out of the kitchen so they won’t cause a danger to themselves or others. This warning hits home for Lopez because she owns a big dog she loves very much.
“Even though my dog is huge, he still is my baby.” Lopez said, “I’d hate if anything happened to him, so I make sure he stays out of the way whenever someone is in the kitchen period.”
In senior Marcelo Lomelin’s family they make a lot of food, so they leave the food heated in tray with fire underneath.
“Fortunately, we don’t have a lot of little kids in my family.” Lomelin said. “But never the less, fire is dangerous to anyone, so any family that uses the tray with fire underneath to keep them heated should be careful.”
