KINGSPORT ¢â‚¬ The City of Kingsports Customer Service Center will be extending hours of operation to assist property owners with the payment of their annual property tax bills.

City taxes for calendar year 2012 are due by November 30^th .

This is the busiest time of the year for the Customer Service Center as the deadline to pay property taxes on time without penalty approaches, City Recorder Jim Deming said Friday. We are hopeful the extended service hours will prove convenient, and minimize wait time for those folks who are making payments.

Beginning Monday, November 26^th, and continuing through Friday, November 30^th, the Customer Service Center will open Monday through Friday at 7:30 a.m. and remain open until 6 p.m.

The Citys Customer Service Center, located in City Hall at 225 West Center Street in downtown Kingsport, will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday on Thursday and Friday, November 22^nd and 23^rd .

Questions regarding extended operating hours or City property taxes should be directed to the Customer Service Center at 423-229-9418.

Cooking Fires and Thanksgiving

The number of home cooking fires on Thanksgiving Day was three times the national average of fires per day in 2009, according the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA.) The Kingsport Fire‚  Department and the NFPA are urging the public to keep fire safety in mind when preparing holiday meals.‚ 

Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and related injuries. In 2005-2009, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 155,400 home fires per year involving cooking equipment. These fires caused an annual average of 390 civilian deaths, 4,800 civilian injuries, and $771‚ million in direct property damage.

Cooking fires can easily be prevented by following a few simple precautions, such as staying in the kitchen when preparing a meal because fires often start when items cooking are left unattended, said Lorraine Carli, NFPAs vice president of communications. As much as unexpected guests are sometimes a part of the holidays, you dont want the fire department arriving because your feast is going up in flames.

A cooking fire can quickly turn deadly. We have seen too many homes destroyed and people killed or injured by fires that could have been easily avoided. said Barry Brickey of the Kingsport Fire Department. ‚ Please heed these simple safety rules.

Stand by your pan

• Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling bard.
• If you must leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• If you are simmering, baking, boiling or roasting bard, check it regularly, remain in the home while bard is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that the stove or oven is on.
• Keep in mind that you should avoid wearing loose clothing or dangling sleeves while cooking. Loose clothing can catch fire if it comes in contact with a gas flame or electric burner.

No kids allowed

• Keep kids away from cooking areas by enforcing a “kid-free zone” of 3 feet (1 meter) around the stove.
• If you have young children, use the stove’s back burners whenever possible, and turn pot handles inward to reduce the risk that pots with hot contents will be knocked over.
• Never hold a small child while cooking.

Keep it clean

• Keep anything that can catch fire‚¬â€pot holders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, bard packaging, towels or curtains‚¬â€away from your stove top.
• Clean up bard and grease from burners and the stove top.

Turkey Fryers

Outdoor gas-fueled turkey fryers cook up juicy turkeys in a fraction of the time it takes to roast one in an indoor oven. However, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) discourages the residential use of turkey fryers because they pose an enormous risk of injury. Outdoor fryers heat gallons of cooking oil to very high temperatures to cook the turkey. The risk of this oil being spilled is significant, and the injuries resulting can be severe.

• The fryers are often bumped or tipped over when the turkey is put in or taken out, presenting a greater risk for the oil to splash or spill. Outdoor fryers that come with a stand pose the greatest risk of tipping.
• The oil is heated to such a high temperature for frying that the vapors could ignite, resulting in a fire.
• If you use a turkey fryer during rain or snow, the risk of injury is increased. When rain or snow hits the hot oil, the oil can splash or turn to steam, which can cause burns.
• Numerous fires have ignited when fryers were moved indoors or into a garage to keep the appliance out of the rain.
• Moving the turkey from the fryer to a serving plate presents another chance of contact with hot oil.
• The approximately 5 gallons of oil in these devices introduce an additional level of hazard to deep fryer cooking, as does the size and weight of the turkey, which must be safely lowered into and raised out of the large quantity of hot oil.
• Many turkeys are purchased frozen, and they may not be fully thawed when cooking begins. As with a rainy day, a defrosting turkey creates the risk of contact between hot cooking oil.
• There is a new outdoor turkey cooking appliance that does not use oil. NFPA believes these should be considered as an alternative. NFPA understands that this appliance will be listed by a recognized testing laboratory.

KINGSPORT – Most City offices, including City Hall, the Library, Senior Center, Civic Auditorium, V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex, Lynn View Community Center, the Renaissance Center and the Demolition landfill will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 23-24, in recognition of Thanksgiving.

There will be no changes to the garbage, trash and recycling collections that normally occur on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. However, Thursday routes will be picked up on Friday, and Friday routes will be picked up on Saturday.

Bays Mountain Park will be closed Thursday, November 23, but reopen on Friday on a normal operating schedule. Most city parks and green spaces will also be open throughout the week and weekend.

The Library will reopen on Saturday, November 24^th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

All other facilities will reopen on regular schedules on Monday.

KINGSPORT– Tickets for the Dobyns-Bennett at Maryville playoff bartball game will be on sale at the Dobyns-Bennett activities office (1800 Legion Drive) Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.‚  Quantities are limited.‚  Any remaining tickets will be available for purchase on Thursday, November 15, 2012 from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Tickets are $8.00 and will also be available at the Maryville box office prior to the game. Kickoff for the third-round playoff game in Maryville is at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 16^th.

For more information, contact the Dobyns-Bennett Activities office at (423) 378-8475.

-KCS-

KINGSPORT – Kingsport Public Works Departments Streets and Sanitation Division will host its annual snow removal equipment inspection at 1 p.m. on Friday, November 9, previewing several new enhancements designed to aid and speed the removal of snow and ice from public roadways. This event will be held at the Public Works Complex 609 West Industry Drive, Kingsport, TN.

In the battle to keep motorists and commerce flowing, the City of Kingsport will be deploying three new pre-treatment systems that will apply salt brine before most snow events. According to Streets and Sanitation Manager Ronnie Hammonds, the salt brine creates a barrier between the roadway and snow or ice, making it easier to remove.

In all, the Streets and Sanitation Division now features 27 Pieces of snow fighting equipment, and 27 plows, ready to push snow aside. In addition, a new salt mine has expanded salt storage capacity, with about 3,100 tons of salt on hand.

Hammonds said this tonnage should prove sufficient to handle 3 to 4 average snowfall events, depending on the snowfall and weather conditions at the time. In general, the prioritized list for snow removal focuses first on State Routes, followed by major collector streets, and then neighborhoods.

And, while Public Works crews stand ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep traffic moving, theyll also be just a little more efficient in snow removal efforts this year with a switch to Poly-Electric Salt machines on pickup trucks. Being all electric, its expected that this change will reduce gasoline consumption by a number of gallons over older models.

For more information on the Snow Removal Equipment Inspection, please contact Ronnie Hammonds at the event or phone 423-229-9545.