A fire department demonstration showed just how easy cooking a turkey can cause a fryer to set ablaze and a turkey to explode into a deadly fireball.
The Gulfport Fire Department in Mississippi posted a video on their Facebook page as a warning of the dangers ahead of Thanksgiving in the United States.
In the video, a firefighter dressed in protective equipment used a long rod to place a frozen turkey into a large pan of hot oil.
Seconds after it was placed into the oil, it began to bubble over and almost immediately caught fire, setting a huge blaze with flames that only grew when the firefighter used water in an attempt to extinguish it.
The shocking demonstration showed just how dangerous it can be to try and deep fry a turkey.
Fire chief Billy Kelley explained how to do it safely to avoid a Thanksgiving fire.
Kelley said: “We put in a frozen turkey. It immediately turns and thaws it out and the water will make the oil flare-up.
“So, when cooking turkeys make sure they’re completely thawed out and you dry them off before you put them in.
“And make sure your oil’s at the correct temperature and not too hot or it will flare up on you and cause a bad day.”
Captioning the video, the Gulfport Fire Department said that these types of fires are, unfortunately, “a very familiar scene” over the holiday season.
According to The Scientific American, the explosion is caused by the interaction between water and oil “at different densities”.
