A fried turkey in Palm Bay yesterday did not turn out as planned. Instead of a crispy bird, this family ended up with a cooked shed with damages of about $15,000, according to the AP. Luckily, no one was injured, but cooking the holiday centerpiece is a persnickety process when it involves hot oil. The Broward Country Sheriff's office has been warning the public of its perils for years.
The BSO turkey frying demonstration has become as routine as pumpkin pie. Every year, a fire rescue worker demonstrates how quickly a turkey fry can become a fireball. It's the annual "don't screw this up" reminder, practically a local parable akin to watching Scrooge before Christmas.
"We don't want your fried turkey to make a burnt turkey out of you," Lt. Bob Sierra said at last week's demonstration.
This is certainly a valuable public service, but news outlets that cover the event annually are left with the question, "What more can we possibly say about this?" Well, it seems this year, CBS-4 really couldn't think of anything to add.
"Fire officials are urging people who plan to fry a turkey using a propane gas powered turkey fryer to reconsider," this year's turkey fryer article began.
If it sounds familiar, it's probably because of the way last year's version began:
"Fire officials are urging people who plan to fry a turkey using a propane gas powered turkey fryer to reconsider."
Actually, the entire article is the same, save for a few changes of days of the week and minor details. Though it's always funny to find things like this, CBS-4 deserves some credit for covering the event with such persistence. In 2008, the news outlet did a thorough original article on the demonstration and in 2006 as well. Could the lack of originality this year be another product of recession-squeezed newsrooms? Regardless, it's nice to see the BSO and CBS 4 share a nice holiday tradition. Maybe if they keep it up, the good word will spread to Palm Bay and beyond... even if we'll all be able to recite the article verbatim when it comes out again next year like the traditional holiday tale it has become.
Watch this year's newscast here... too bad we all can't wear firefighter gear in the kitchen.
