One minute everything is on track. The turkey is in the oven. Mashed potatoes are boiling and the gravy is simmering. An array of colorful side dishes are almost complete.

Then the door bell rings.

The next minute, the Thanksgiving holiday host is taking coats, offering drinks and chatting with guests. Children and pets are running around the living room. Laughter and cheers fills the house.

Then something else begins to fill the house. Smoke! The kitchen is on fire.

This scenario could well be any holiday host’s nightmare, but it happens too often. Thanksgiving is the leading day for home cooking fires in the United States.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, nearly four times as many home cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year.

“Because there is so much cooking going on, it gives more opportunity for mistakes to happen,” Lisa Braxton, a representative from the National Fire Protection Association, told the Daily Inter Lake. “There are also all kinds of distractions.”

Pat Clinch, Montana Deputy State Fire Marshall, told the Inter Lake that Montana follows suit with the rest of the country when it comes to Thanksgiving cooking fires.

“We follow the national trends,” Clinch said.

“You don’t want a Thanksgiving memory that you burned up your kitchen,” he said. “The biggest thing you can do is to be vigilant and keep your eye on things.”

The fire experts said it’s a good idea to stay in the kitchen when cooking to keep a close eye on food. Using a timer can help track of a meal that takes a long time. Check the timer frequently and put timers in other rooms if needed. The modern technology of smart phones can come in handy, because someone who is cooking can set a timer on their phone and keep it with them, Braxton noted.

Keeping items that can catch fire — like oven mitts, wooden utensils, food wrappers and towels — away from the cooking area will lessen the chances of a kitchen fire from sparking.

Fire officials also advise residents to avoid cooking when they are sleepy or drinking alcohol.

An increasing popular method of cooking turkeys can have disastrous consequences. The fire protection association discourages the use of turkey fryers all together because they can lead to serious burns and the destruction of property.

“There have been people who have burned down their garages, their homes and injured themselves,” Braxton said of deep fryers.

Deep fryers are dangerous because they combine extremely hot oil and an open flame, with the moisture and cool temperatures of a turkey, Clinch said.

“The instructions associated with a turkey fryer advise keeping a fire extinguisher handy,” Braxton said. “That tells you right there it is a dangerous activity.”

The National Fire Protection Association encourages those celebrating the holiday to keep children 3 feet away from stove tops, as well as from hot foods and liquids.

“People want to have a pleasant Thanksgiving,” Braxton said. “You don’t want to be running to the emergency room or have the fire department pay a visit to your house.”

Reporter Breeana Laughlin can be reached at 758-4441 or [email protected].