Holiday Safety Tips

Everyone loves to have the family over to enjoy these special days. Unfortunately, the holiday season has a high incidence for home fires. The events are generally caused by misuse of holiday decorations, candle use, and unattended cooking.   Here are some home safety tips to keep you and your family safe during the holidays.

Home Decorations:

 - Holiday Lighting:

Inspect holiday lights each year for frayed wires, bare spots and excessive kinking or wear before putting them up. Connect strings of lights to an extension cord before plugging the cord into the outlet. Never use lights intended for use inside your home, for exterior decorations.

 - Candle Care:

Consider using battery-operated flameless candles, which can look, smell and feel like real candles. If you do use lit candles, make sure they are in stable holders and have a glass globe, to prevent accidental contact with the flame. Place candles where they cannot be knocked down easily by humans or pets.

Christmas trees:

 Before bringing the tree into your home be sure to cut at lease 1 ½” off the base of the tree. This will allow the tree to draw water up to the needles.  Water your tree every day! This simple chore will help the tree stay fresh and supple.   If you can get a handful of needles by gently combing a branch with fore finger and thumb into your cupped hand, the tree is very dry.  Regardless of the date on the calendar, it’s time to take the tree out of the house and compost it.  Dry trees are veritable tinder boxes.

Cooking:

The kitchen is the heart of home especially on the holidays. Kids love to be involved in the preparation. However with all the cooks and distractions, the kitchen it may not be the safest place for them.

Children should keep kept at least three feet away from the stove, oven and food prep areas.   Set up a safe observation area where the children can watch and be involved in the conversations during the dinner preparation. Steam or splash from cooking vegetables, gravy, or hot beverages could cause serious burns. Knives on the edge of the counter can be knocked over. If you drop a knife don’t try to catch it, invariably you’ll grab the wrong end.

If you are cooking, stay in the kitchen so that you can keep an eye on the food. Distraction/inattention is the primary cause of kitchen fires.  Do not cook the turkey while you are out of the house visiting friends. Oven timing features can and do malfunction.

Be sure electric cords for electric knives, coffeemakers, hot plate and mixers are not dangling off the counter within reach of a small child.

Candles should only be lit or extinguished by children under direct hands-on supervision of an adult. All matches and lighters should be stored up high where child cannot reach them or in a locked cabinet Fire is very unforgiving. All fires start very small.

Happy Holidays.  Enjoy your families. Be safe, make it safe, and create some wonderful memories.

Deputy Chief Terence Francis, CFI

Fire Marshal