Local fire departments say they receive an uptick in calls around the holidays.

The Commission on Fire Prevention and Control and The National Fire Protection Association say cooking fires increase by 300% on Thanksgiving Day. 

Local fire officials say multitasking in the kitchen can lead people to take shortcuts that can be dangerous. 

They said to keep anything that can catch fire away from the stove and not leave a hot stove unattended.

Fairfield Assistant Fire Chief Roger Caisse says turkeys must be completely thawed out and cooked outside, away from other structures.

“It only takes a little bit of moisture on a Turkey or a deep fryer to cause it to boil over, and that oil contacts the flame, and it gets very excited very quickly,” Caisse said. "A simple thing as putting a piece of foil underneath that pie and the dripping doesn’t touch the burner, and you don’t have an incident.”

The Fairfield Fire Department has additional resources and safety tips on its website. 

Bridgeport Fire Chief Lance Edwards says departments across the country receive an uptick in calls around the holidays.

“Cooking fires are still the number one reason for structure fires and the number two leading cause of injuries,” said Edwards.

The Bridgeport Fire Department released a safety video of how to fry a turkey.

“If that turkey fryer is too close to the home, and you have either wooden shingles or vinyl siding, that siding and those wood shingles are going to go up in no time,” said Edwards.

Chief Edwards says to make sure people have working smoke alarms.

“Bridgeport is very fortunate we’ve had a very popular robust smoke alarm program for close to 20 years now, and we’ve installed 75,000 smoke alarms here in the city.”

If you have an oven fire, experts say turn off the heat, keep the door closed, and call 911.

Fire officials reminded people to keep anything that can catch fire away from the stove and never leave a hot stove unattended.