(WBBM) - Before you consider frying your Thanksgiving turkey, keep in mind the story of a retired fire chief from central Illinois who set a relative’s house on fire trying to fry a bird.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Nancy Harty Reports

Keith Evrley is a retired fire chief of Taylorville, near Springfield. It was Easter morning 2005 and Evrley had just set up the turkey fryer on his mother-in-law’s concrete patio.

He walked three doors down to wake his wife and when he returned five minutes later, the fryer was on fire.

Evrley woke his mother-in-law and called 911.

By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had spread to the house.

Damage to the home made it uninhabitable for a few months, Evrley says.

After the flames were out he got a lecture from the firefighters, one he’s given a number of times himself, plus some good-natured teasing.

Evrley says if he would ever try to fry a turkey again, he will stay with it the entire time.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission offers turkey fryer safety tips HERE