Every December I think about the same thing: the kitchen is about to become the busiest room in the house. More people, more pots on the stove, kids underfoot, and everybody distracted. That’s exactly when fires and burns happen.

This isn’t a hunch. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that Christmas Day and Christmas Eve were the second- and third-busiest days of the year for home cooking fires in 2024, right behind Thanksgiving. Unattended cooking equipment is a factor in about a quarter of home cooking fires and 43 percent of the deaths from them.

Here’s what I want every family to know before the holidays.

Prevent it first

• Stay in the kitchen when anything is frying, boiling or broiling. If you have to step away, turn it off.
• Keep a kid-free zone of at least 3 feet around the stove and anywhere hot food or drinks are being made or carried. That’s NFPA’s recommendation.
• Turn pot handles in, away from the edge, so nobody bumps them and nobody small can grab them.
• Watch the hot drinks. Hot liquids like coffee are the most common cause of burns in children.
• Check your water heater. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends setting it so the hottest water at the faucet is no more than 120°F.

If a pan catches fire

• Slide a lid over the pan and turn off the burner. Don’t move the pan. Leave the lid on until the pan is completely cool.
• Never throw water on a grease fire.
• For an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed.
• If the fire is spreading or you’re not sure you can put it out, get everyone out and call 911 from outside.

If someone gets burned: the first 10 minutes

These steps follow the 2024 American Heart Association and American Red Cross Guidelines for First Aid, the current U.S. standard.

1. Stop the burning. Get the person away from the heat source.
2. Cool it right away with clean running water. The guidelines say it may be reasonable to cool a burn for 5 to 20 minutes. Don’t put ice directly on the skin.
3. Watch kids for getting cold. Younger children being cooled with running water should be watched for signs of getting too cold, like shivering. Cool the burn, not the whole child.
4. Take off jewelry, belts and anything tight near the burned area, because burns swell.
5. Cover it loosely with a clean cloth or a non-stick dry dressing. Don’t pop blisters.
6. No butter or kitchen oils. Old remedies like these aren’t part of burn first aid. For a small burn you’re caring for at home, the guidelines say plain petroleum jelly or petroleum-based antibiotic ointment, honey or aloe vera, under a clean non-stick dressing, may be reasonable after cooling.
7. Pain relief: over-the-counter pain medicine is reasonable. Follow the label for your child’s age and weight.

When to get help

According to the 2024 guidelines, get the person seen promptly by a health care professional if the burn:

• Is deep (a full-thickness burn: white, leathery or charred, sometimes painless)
• Is blistered or raw and larger than the person’s palm
• Is on the face, hands, feet or genitals

Call 911 if there are signs the person breathed in smoke or hot air: burns on the face, trouble breathing, singed nose hairs, or soot around the nose or mouth. Also call 911 for any burn that’s large or that you think is serious, and get any electrical or chemical burn checked right away, because those can be much deeper than they look.

For kids, the American Academy of Pediatrics also advises calling your child’s doctor within 24 hours for any blister, unless it’s a small, closed blister under ½ inch.

One more thing

Take five minutes this week and check two things: your smoke alarms, and where your lids are. You don’t want to be hunting for one when you need it.

If you want the full rundown on burns, choking, poisoning and the other emergencies kids get into, that’s what my guide The First 10 Minutes: A Parent’s Guide to Child Emergencies is for.

Stay safe this season,
Nathan

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Sources

• Hewett Brumberg EK, et al. 2024 American Heart Association and American Red Cross Guidelines for First Aid. Circulation. 2024;150:e519–e579. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000001281
• National Fire Protection Association. Winter holiday fire safety and home cooking fire statistics: nfpa.org/winterholidaysafety
• National Fire Protection Association. Cooking safety tips: nfpa.org
• American Academy of Pediatrics. Treating and Preventing Burns: healthychildren.org
• American Academy of Pediatrics. Burn symptom checker (when to call): healthychildren.org
• American Burn Association. Pediatric Scalds: ameriburn.org

Reviewed against current U.S. guidelines, November 2026. This article is for general education and isn’t medical advice. In an emergency, call 911.