Decorating Safety to Ensure an Enjoyable Holiday Season!
The holidays can be a joyous time of year. A time to spend with family and friends, enjoy home cooked meals, and decorate our homes. While we may enjoy holiday decorating, there are some safety concerns to keep in mind when putting up those trees and lights.
Between 2015-2019, U.S. fire departments responded to an average 160 home fires per year that started with Christmas trees. These fires caused an average of $10 million in direct property damage annually. Electrical lighting equipment was involved in nearly half of these Christmas tree fires, and nearly one-fifth were caused by another type of heat source, such as a candle or other equipment, set too close to the tree. Two out of five started in the living room, family room or den, the most common areas for a tree.
Holiday decorations were responsible for 790 home structure fires between 2015 and 2019 with $13 million in property damage. Forty Five percent of those fires were due to decorations that were too close to a heat source.
During the holidays, the kitchen can see an increase in activity, with Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as the peak days for home cooking fires. Cooking equipment is involved in nineteen percent of home decoration fires, and is caused by decorations that are too close to a stove or other cooking equipment that uses heat.
Keep Your Tree Hydrated!
A living, green tree will catch fire slower than a dried out tree. Keep your tree away from fireplaces and heaters. It is also a great idea to have a working fire extinguisher near the tree. Check your lights for frayed wiring or shattered bulbs and always turn off your holiday lights before going to bed.
https://www.onemedical.com/blog/live-well/holiday-safety-tips/
Your holiday should be a time to spend with family and friends and make lasting memories. Take the proper steps to ensure that your home holiday decorating will be safe and free from accidents.
Take a look at the following handy printouts for some helpful tips:
https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/611.pdf
Article originally Published on: Nov 8, 2017. Updated Dec 6, 2021
