CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Fire officials are warning residents that Thanksgiving is the leading day of the year for home fires in the United States as families finalize holiday plans.

There were an estimated 1,400 Thanksgiving cooking fires across the nation in 2023, the most recent year for data from the National Fire Protection Association . That’s a 388% increase from the daily average.

UnityPoint Health St. Luke’s Emergency Room Doctor Donald Linder said his staff sees a variety of people coming in over the Thanksgiving holiday, from cooking fires and burns to food-borne illnesses to injuries on ladders or even the cold.

“Unfortunately, nothing really surprises us anymore,” Linder said.

Deputy Chief of Administration Jason Hansen with the Marion Fire Department said kitchen fir

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