Drones Eyed to Cut Down Thanksgiving Cooking Fires

Autel Robotics just released a video showing its X-Star Premium Drone deep-frying a turkey in an attempt to help cut down Thanksgiving kitchen fires.

Data compiled by the US Fire Administration (USFA) showed that the number of residential fires doubles during Thanksgiving Day and has caused an estimated 10 deaths, 50 injuries, and $28 million in property losses.

In 2014, reports from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission revealed that about 1,300 cooking fires are reported on Thanksgiving. These fires cause more than $15-million-worth of property damages annually and serious burn injuries. One of the main causes: turkey deep-fryers.

Accordingly, the cooking fires that are recorded during Thanksgiving amount to thrice the number of cooking fires on other days of the year. Data gathered between 2003 and 2013 showed 125 turkey-fryer-related fires, explosions, burns, smoke, and lacerations.

To lessen the cooking fires brought about by the deep-fried turkey, Autel Robotics just released the ultimate multi-tasking appliance set to cut down kitchen fires. More than solving the kitchen fire problem in the U.S., Autel Robotics X-Star Premium Drone is built to slice and dice veggies and of course, deep-fry turkeys.

Following the Thanksgiving video of IntelligentUAS which showed the DJI S1000 drone lifting a turkey from a pan to a pot of boiling oil in the parking lot, Autel Robotics' video showed an entire Thanksgiving menu done with the help of a drone.

Every year, the USFA releases safety precautions to having an accident-free Thanksgiving Day. Along with these safety precautions, they also post the dangers of deep-frying a turkey:

1. Turkey fryers can easily tip over, spilling hot cooking oil over a large area.

2. An overfilled cooking pot will cause cooking oil to spill when the turkey is put in, and a partially frozen turkey will cause cooking oil to splatter when put in the pot.

3. Even a small amount of cooking oil spilling on a hot burner can cause a large fire.

4. Without thermostat controls, deep-fryers can overheat oil to the point of starting a fire.

5. The sides of the cooking pot, lid, and pot handles can get dangerously hot.