Fire Safety During the Holidays

by Eloy Gomez

safety/emergency coordinator

The holidays should be enjoyable, so it’s important to be careful when decorating your homes. Holiday decorations are responsible for more than $11 million in home fire damages each year. To ensure your holiday celebrations are fire-safe and injury-free, follow these safety tips.

Candles

• Consider using flameless candles and flame-resistant candleholders to reduce fire risk. Flameless candles are highly recommended by the Orange County Fire Authority.

• Keep candles at least 12 inches from flammable materials.

• Keep candles out of the reach of children and pets and on stable surfaces.

• Extinguish candles before leaving a room or going to sleep.

Lighting and Decorations

• Check lights for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections before using.

• Replace burned-out bulbs promptly with the same wattage bulb.

• Do not overload electrical outlets with too many lights or decorations, and make sure all extension cords are marked for proper use.

• Plug outdoor electric lights and decorations into circuits protected by ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs).

• Turn off all indoor and outdoor holiday lighting before leaving the house or going to bed.

Christmas Trees

• Artificial Christmas trees labeled as fire-resistant are three times safer than real trees.

• If decorating with a fresh tree, ensure it is watered as soon as installed and frequently thereafter.

• Place your tree away from fireplaces, radiators, heater vents, air ducts and other heat sources.

• Make sure the tree is out of the way of day-to-day traffic.

• Ornaments and other holiday decorations should be noncombustible or flame-resistant.

• Remove your tree promptly from your home after the holidays. An ignited tree can be totally consumed by fire in 3-5 seconds and generate over 2,000 degrees of radiant heat.

Flameless candles reduce fire risk.