Kitchen fire burns family’s home in Cape Coral on Thanksgiving

A kitchen fire torched a family’s home and the smoke ruined nearly everything they own.

The Cape Coral Fire Department said there are more fires like this on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year.

Fire crews say that something caught on fire on the stove top and now the family is out tens of of thousands of dollars and can’t sleep in their own beds on Thanksgiving.

Now firefighters are passing on some important warnings so your home won’t be next.

“The stats don’t lie and they say that Thanksgiving is the largest number of kitchen fires,” said Division Chief Mike Bush. “And that’s directly related to people cooking out of their comfort zone, leaving things unattended.”

Across Southwest Florida, crews responded to call after call and Bush says that many of the fires stared from people preparing their Thanksgiving feasts.

“We’ve had a frying turkey outside on the driveway, we’ve had a couple of kitchen fires now from cooking,” he said. “Some of them are insignificant, smoking up the residence. Some of them, like this one, have more of an effect on people’s Thanksgiving.”

Fire inspectors say the flames inside the Cape Coral duplex caused more than $70,000 in damage and the family who lives there will be displaced for days.

So how can you keep your home safe while preparing food for the holidays.

Experts say it comes down to two things.

“Preparation is one and then staying with your cooking. Staying attentive to it,” Bush said.

Don’t start cooking and then walk away.

“Stay with what you’re cooking inside at the stove or a gas cooker outside. Be ready. Have an extinguisher handy. Know, of course, where your safety equipment is at.”

To learn more about keeping your home safe you can find extra tips here.