The American Red Cross responds to nearly 70,000 disasters a year - one every eight minutes - and most are home fires. Last year, the Red Cross of the Pocono Mountains responded to 81 disasters and helped 295 people. The Red Cross encourages families to prevent kitchen fires by taking some basic safety measures.

"Thanksgiving is the peak day for kitchen fires, and most of those are caused by unattended cooking," said Michele Baehr, Executive Director for the American Red Cross Pocono Mountains Chapter. "The good news is that home fires can be prevented by following some simple, safety tips."Tips to avoid cooking fires include:• Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen even for a short period of time, turn off the stove.• Keep young children and pets at least 3 feet away from the stove.• Move items that can burn away from the stove such as dishtowels, bags and boxes.• Clean the stove and the area around it before turning on the heat.• Don't leave food on the stove unattended.• Turn pot handles to the back of the stove to avoid spills.If a pan catches fire, don't move it. Slide a pan lid or cookie sheet on top of the pan to put out the fire. Turn off the heat. Keep the lid on the pan until it cools. Never try to stop a grease or oil fire with water - it will fuel the fire.If something catches fire in the oven, keep the door closed. Call 911 so firefighters can make sure the fire didn't spread to the walls. If a fire occurs in the microwave, keep the door closed and unplug the microwave if you can. Don't use it again until a repairman checks it.If the kitchen catches fire, make sure everyone gets out and call 911 when outside. Once outside, stay out. Never go back inside a burning building.People can visit redcross.org/homefires to find out more about how to protect themselves and their loved homes from fire. To find the location of smoke alarm installation events or to become a volunteer, contact the Red Cross at 570-476-3800. People can help by donating to Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting redcross.org, calling 800-RED CROSS or texting the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Donations to Disaster Relief will be used to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.