Remember Holiday Safety

With the 2011 holiday season in full swing and Christmas only three weeks away, we should all remember that we need to follow some holiday safety tips. Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA) have a beaucoup of helpful information on their Facebook page and websites. We will go over several of these tips. 

Christmas Trees

A christmas tree can become fully engulfed in flames in about five seconds and spread and engulf the room within 30 seconds. Selecting a tree for the holidays is very important. Do you want a real or a fake tree? If you choose a real tree you should purchase one that has green needles and they should be hard to pull back from the branches. If you are looking at purchasing a live tree, you could bounce it on the ground. This technique will allow you to see if needless fall off. If a lot of needles fall off, then the tree was 1) cut too long ago, 2)dried out and 3) a fire hazard. This type of tree is not one you want to have in your house. Caring for your tree is very important. Never put a tree by a heat source such as a fireplace or a heat vent. Like we stated earlier, a dry tree is a fire hazard, putting a tree near a heat source will dry the tree out  and can be easily ignited by exposure to heat, flames or sparks. Something else you need to consider is timing. A live tree should not be put up for the holidays for more than two weeks. The longer that the tree is up the better the chances are that is dried out. During the time that you have your tree up, make sure that you fill the tree stand with plenty of water.  When you want to dispose of your Christmas tree at the end of the season MEMA says the safest way is to bring it to a recycling center. Never put tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood burning stove according to USFA. Alternatively you could have it hauled away during a community pick-up service. 

If you are using an artificial Christmas tree you might think you are off the hook right? Wrong. When you go shopping for your first Christmas tree or for a replacement, you should look to make sure that the material that is used on the tree is flame retardant. 

Holiday Lights

Every year make sure you that you inspect your lights for frayed wires, bar spots or gaps in insulation. Also look for excessive wear before putting on your Christmas tree or around your house. Follow manufacturer recommendations about the number of strands of lights you can connect to one another. The USFA states not to put more than three light strands together unless the directions state it is safe to do so. For example, the LED mini Light Set that is sold at local Walmart's say that you can connect up to 210 Wats or 43 sets of the same exact light string on 1 outlet. This is the same as having 1 strand with 2580 lights. The other part of this is to make sure that you do not overload an outlet. An outlet is shared between many other outlets in the house and is part of a circuit. Overloading an outlet cause an estimated 5,300 fires annually according to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission. Almost 2,000 of these fires are caused during the holiday season.Before you connect strands of lights to an outlet connect them to an extension cord or a surge protector. When you have your lights on you should check the lights periodically. This will allow you to determine if the lights are warm to the touch. At any time the lights should not be warm to the touch. 

Some Other Information

When you put up your holiday decorations, have you ever wondered what material that was used to create them? You should use decorations that are nonflammable or flame retardant. They should be placed away from heat sources such as fireplaces and candles. On Christmas Eve or Christmas Day when you unwrap your presents from your family and Santa Claus, what do you do with the wrapping paper? Never throw the wrapping paper in your fireplace. Doing this could cause a very large chimmey fire and throw dangerous sparks and embers. Throw away the wrapping paper. 

Candles are used in seven out of 10 homes according to the candles association. Never put lit candles on the Christmas tree. As we discussed earlier if you are using a real tree, the heat from candles and other open flames can dry out the tree. If you are going to use candles, make sure they are in a stable holders and put them in an area that they will not be easily knocked over. If you leave your house or apartment for any time blow the candle out.

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