I hope that everyone in BBF that celebrated Thanksgiving today had a very happy, wonderful, and safe Thanksgiving.

A little history about Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving Day is an annual holiday celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Thanks are traditionally directed towards God, accompanied with feasting and prayer. Thanksgiving is a legal holiday celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the United States. Because of the longstanding traditions of the holiday, the celebration often extends to the weekend that falls closest to the day it is celebrated.

Thanksgiving in North America had originated from a mix of European and Native traditions. Typically in Europe, festivals were held before and after the harvest cycles to give thanks for a good harvest, and to rejoice together after much hard work with the rest of the community. At the time, Native Americans had also celebrated the end of a harvest season. When Europeans first arrived to the Americas, they brought with them their own harvest festival traditions from Europe, celebrating their safe voyage, peace and good harvest. Though the origins of the holiday in both Canada and the United States are similar, Americans do not typically celebrate the contributions made in Newfoundland, while Canadians do not celebrate the contributions made in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn't until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November.

Until today I thought it was just a USA holiday. As I started doing a little searching I found I was wrong. There are many many countries that also celebrate Thanksgiving. Some are at different times of the year but for us in the USA that time is today.

State Farm says more cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than any other day and are more than double that of the average November day.
Frying, deep frying in particular, is more dangerous than other types of cooking, adds the National Fire Protection Association.

The agency said that the 57 civilian injuries per 1,000 reported home fires involving deep fryers from 2003 to 2006 were almost twice the rate of 31 injuries per 1,000 homes fires involving all types of cooking equipment combined.

And the average direct property loss of $14,500 per reported deep fryer fire was almost three times the average of $5,000 for cooking fires in general.
State Farm lists common mistakes of using turkey fryers:

•Too much oil. When the turkey is lowered into an overfilled pot, the oil may spill, hit the burner and ignite. The owner's manual lists the proper amount of oil to use.

•Fryer is too close to structures. Cook outdoors, away from flammables; maintain a safe distance from buildings and keep the fryer off anything wooden.

•Oil and water don't mix. When ice comes into contact with hot oil, the water vaporizes, causing steam bubbles to pop and spray hot oil. So don't fry a frozen turkey or use ice or water to cool oil or extinguish an oil fire. Use an extinguisher approved for cooking or grease fires and call 911.

•Unattended cooking. Many fryers don't have thermostats, so the oil can continue to heat to combustion.

I had to work today at the station and in my area we did not ran a call yet but that is not to say that around the USA and the world that there were not many.


Again I hope all had great time with their families today. It is about being with them and being thankful for what we do have. Remember no matter how bad you think it is, it can always be worse.

Happy Thanksgiving

Same to you DrDeath and all of you out there have a good and safe Thanks Giving.
and thanks for all the info.....