Windsor's fire chief says cooking while drunk should be just as unacceptable as driving while drunk.
Bruce Montone is warning revellers about the dangers of cooking up a quick snack after a night of holiday cheer. He says unattended cooking is a leading cause of fires, and many of those cases involve alcohol.
"About 72% of the fire loss is associated with residential fires, and almost half of those fires occur in homes," he says. "Half of that is the result of cooking."
Montone isn't concerned about the chef who sips a glass of wine while cooking up a holiday feast. He's concerned about the guests at that party returning home peckish after a few drinks.
"Typically you come home from a social evening -- you're a little hungry, so people tend to cook up a little snack," says Montone. "They make the first fatal error which is leaving that cooking unattended. They fall asleep on the couch or in the chair -- and the next thing you know we have a kitchen fire."
A recent report says Windsor has among the highest rates of fire-related death and injury in Canada.