MAIZE, Kan. (KSNW) — A year ago, Camilla and Ron Veatch were enjoying time with family, doing a fish fry at their house. Their fryer was on the deck and caught fire, burning the majority of the home.
“It was a very emotional road and a roller coaster ride,” Camilla said.
She says she never thought this would happen.
“Don’t use the turkey fryer on the deck because even though you’ve done it 100 times, there’s that one out of 100 that is going to happen,” Camilla said.
They lost items inside that can never be replaced.
“I had a lot of my parents’ and grandparents’ stuff after they passed away,” Camilla said. “It was like losing my grandparents and my mother and dad all over again. Very emotional.”
Camilla says they were watching the fryer from inside, but no one was outside with it.
They are thankful to be back in their home and passing on the hard lesson they learned.
“We are glad to be home,” Camilla said. “We had some amazing neighbors while we were in devastation. They took care of our animals and then did a Go Fund Me, and they were just amazing.”
Sedgwick County Fire Marshal Bradley Crisp says you should make sure your fryers are at least 10 feet away from a structure.
“The way people get in trouble with the turkey fryer is they overfill with oil, oil gets too hot and it boils over onto the open flame below, so you’ve got to stop the flame,” Crisp said.
He says fires always pick up during the holidays because more people are cooking and that’s the leading cause of fires in the U.S.
“We want people to just take a minute and think about what you’re doing,” Crisp said.
A few tips to prevent fires:
- Stay in the kitchen if you’re cooking
- Eliminate distractions
- Use deep fryer 10 feet away from buildings on a non-combustible surface
- If a fire starts in a pot or oven, cut off the oxygen by putting a lid on or closing the door.
“It’ll go out,” Crisp said. “It’ll smoke up your house, but your house won’t catch on fire. Just leave it closed for a little while because fire has to have oxygen.”
Crisp encourages people to educate themselves on how to do things safely, and remain calm if a fire does spark.
“We hit the panic button, and when we hit the panic button, bad things usually happen,” Crisp said. “Don’t hit the panic button. Take a breath. You have a second. General safety things in the kitchen always go a long way this time of year. The biggest thing is just pay attention. Don’t leave the kitchen.”