Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Las Vegas avoids typical cooking fires this Thanksgiving

There were no reported cooking fires in Las Vegas this Thanksgiving, typically the day with the most cooking-related fires of the year, Las Vegas Fire and Rescue officials said. Last year, there were 10 cooking fires.

“We were very fortunate,” fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski said.

There were, however, two cooking-related carbon monoxide incidents on Wednesday and Thursday, officials said.

Because of long hours of cooking in kitchens that are not well ventilated, the odorless, deadly gas can build up, Szymanski said.

Firefighters were called at 10:19 p.m. Wednesday to an apartment in the 800 block of Weaver Place after a carbon monoxide detector went off, Szymanski said. Using special gas monitors, firefighters determined the level of carbon monoxide in the apartment could be life threatening, he said.

Eight people were in the apartment, officials said. One adult and four children were taken to University Medical Center to be checked out for exposure to carbon monoxide, officials said. Three adults were treated on scene, officials said.

Firefighters cleared the gas out of the small apartment, where occupants said they had ben cooking all day, Szymanski said.

In a separate incident, firefighters responded at 1:55 a.m. Thursday to a home in the 1100 block of West Monroe Avenue after a resident reported that the carbon monoxide detector had been activated, officials said.

Once again, carbon monoxide levels were found to be high and one child and one adult were taken to UMC to be checked for exposure, Szymanski said. The victim said she had been cooking all night, he said.

When cooking for an extended time, fire officials recommend, open a window or door and let fresh air into the kitchen once each hour or two.

In both instances, the carbon monoxide detector notified occupants of the deadly gas before it became life threatening.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy