Expert Warns That Household Burns More Common During Christmas Season
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- With its candles and cooking, the holiday season is also burn season.
So perhaps some safety advice is in order.
Scott Cohen of the Burn Foundation, based in Philadelphia, says a rise in burns occurs this time every year, a lot of them because we're slaving away at hot stoves and the oven's on overtime.
Cohen says he's not a big fan of fire extinguishers because too few people know which one to use and how to use it.
So, instead, he offers a trick:
"If you're cooking with grease or anything that could flame up like that, keep a cookie sheet handy," he tells KYW Newsradio, "because you can always slip that over the top of a pan and that will extinguish the fire."
Overall, Cohen urges us to take the burn risk seriously.
"And the best way to do that is remember those three A's: awareness, attention, and action."
Awareness is learning the risks and preventions; attention is not walking off while cooking; and action includes things like keeping a close watch that the Christmas tree doesn't get dehydrated -- making it more flammable.
