Keep your holidays safe and happy

The holiday season is right around the corner — that special time of year when you brighten your home with scented candles and twinkling lights. Although decorating your home creates a cheerful atmosphere, it also brings an increased risk of accidental fire. These safety tips will help you avoid potential hazards.

Decorative Lighting

• Buy only lights and electrical decorations bearing the name of an independent testing lab.
• Check each set for damaged or frayed wire insulation or cords, cracks in lamp holders or loose connections.
• Use no more than three strands of lights for each extension cord.
• Avoid covering lights with cloth, paper or any material that is not part of the lighting.
• Ensure lights you place outside are specifically labeled for outdoor use.
• Connect all outside lighting to a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupting (GFCI) outlet.
• Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, your house or other firm structures — away from sharp hooks and nails.
• Unplug all holiday lighting before leaving the house or going to bed.

Candles

• Keep candles away from decorations and other combustible materials.
• Use sturdy, non-flammable holders large enough to collect dripping wax.
• Place candles where they cannot be knocked down or blown over, or where blinds and curtains can close over them.
• Keep wicks trimmed to one quarter inch.
• Extinguish taper and pillar candles when they are within two inches of the holder and votive candles within a half inch.
• Put out all candles when leaving the room or going to sleep.

Trees

• Select a tree that is fresh and well maintained. Never purchase one with dry or dropping needles.
• Cut off about two inches of the trunk to expose fresh wood for better water absorption.
• Keep live trees as moist as possible by giving them water every day.
• If you buy an artificial tree, make sure it's labeled as fire-retardant.
• Set your tree away from fireplaces, radiators and other heat sources.
• Place near an outlet so cords don't have to run long distances.
• Safely dispose of the tree when it begins dropping needles.

Holiday Fire Facts

• According to the National Fire Protection Association, between 2009 and 2013, 210 home fires started with a tree.
• One of every three home tree fires is caused by electrical problems.
• A heat source too close to the tree caused approximately one in four fires.
• The risk of fire is higher with natural trees than artificial trees.
• More than half of home candle fires occur when something flammable is too close to the candle.
• Holiday decorative lighting with line voltage is to blame for an average of 150 home fires each year.

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