By Ruth Longoria
As the thermometer dips below freezing and chimneys get warmed up in anticipation of jolly old Saint Nick, it’s time to start thinking of keeping your home safe during the holiday season. Although holiday trees and lighting decorations add a festive touch to the season, without proper precautions they can have the potential for a tragic end, authorities warn.
“No one wants to be called out to a Christmas Eve, or other holiday fire,” said Island Fireman Mike Peters.
“Obviously tree fires are bad. The heat from lights on a dry tree can cause a fire and trees when they catch fire go up like that,” he snapped his fingers. “Whoosh!”
The fire department offers a free brochure called “Fire Safe Holidays.” Among other precautions, the brochure advises decorators to throw away old holiday light sets with cords that are cracked or frayed. It also warns about using electric lights on a metal tree. Firefighter Mike Kissel said another danger is from wires that are overloaded when people attach too many strands of light together.
“Christmas tree lights aren’t exactly high end electronics and they’re not built to last. People hang on to lights for years and don’t pay attention to the fact the wires get flexed or pulled. There could be a potential short or overheating,” he said.
There’s a lot of things people don’t think about when they start putting up holiday lights and trees, said Kissel.
Never staple wires when putting up lights. “Staples pinch the wires,” Kissel said. “Pinched and frayed wires can cause heat through resistance, which means the wires get hot or overloaded and there could be a fire.”
Fireplaces are also a leading cause of house fires during the Christmas season. “If you’re going to use a fireplace, make sure you have your chimney cleaned and inspected annually,” Kissel said. And, don’t just rely on the chimney cleaner products that can be purchased at a store. “There are new products out there, but we don’t recommend them because we don’t even know if they work yet,” he said.
The Island fire department offers a free home inspection for residents. It provides the homeowner with a checklist of things to fix for safety reasons only. “It’s an educational tool, there’s no legality or citations issued,” Kissel said. The inspections include information and demonstrations on smoke alarms and other safety needs. “You’d never believe how many people don’t know how to use a fire extinguisher,” he said. “And when it comes down to using one, you need to know how.”
Safety tips
^la Select a fresh tree — needles should be green and hard to pull back from the branches, and the trunk of the tree should be sticky to the touch.
^la If you purchase an artificial tree, look for the label “fire resistant.”
^la Don’t place your tree close to a heat source such as a fireplace or heat vent.
^la Keep the tree stand filled with water and additives to extend the tree’s life.
^la Dispose of or recycle the tree promptly when the needles get dry.
^la Never put tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood-burning stove.
^la Inspect your holiday lights annually for frays, kinks and wear.
^la Don’t overload outlets or link more than three strands of lights together. A surge protector is recommended. Wires should never be warm to the touch.
^la Take care when using space heaters, don’t place them close together and don’t try to use them to heat your whole house.
^la If you plan to use a portable generator during power outages, it must be properly installed. It is not safe to simply connect a home generator directly to a house wiring system. Check with Puget Sound Energy or a licensed electrical contractor if installing a generator.
^la Never store gasoline near a generator.
^la Have a family plan and a meeting point for emergencies.
^la Regularly check smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. Fire extinguishers must be checked to see that they are still charged and pressurized.
^la Have your furnace and chimney inspected or cleaned.
^la If you have gas appliances, invest in a carbon monoxide detector, which costs about $15.
^la Have your furnace, chimney or wood stove inspected and cleaned annually.
^la Keep the area around the hearth clear.
^la Never burn cardboard boxes or wrapping paper in your fireplace or wood stove.
