Holiday Fire Safety Tips

Add Feedback

Share |

To keep the holiday season safe and joyous, each year CAL Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department remind citizens of simple safety measures that they should take, giving tips on Christmas trees, wrapping paper, cooking and fireplace usage.

While beautiful to look at, decorated Christmas trees can be lethal if not cared for properly. In a live-burn scenario, CAL Fire and the Riverside County Fire Department show what happens when a flash fire from an electrical short ignites a dry Christmas tree. Within thirty seconds, the fire consumes the tree, the room, and all of its furnishings. The temperature of the room reaches 1500 degrees at ceiling level and any furnishings that were not burned directly by the flame melt at that temperature.

There are several lessons to be learned from this demonstration. First, before decorating with lights, it is important to check all of the cords for fraying or for missing bulbs, which can cause electrical shock and/or start a fire. Also, the freshness of a Christmas tree is critical to keeping it from igniting. Captain Julie Hutchinson of CAL Fire/Riverside County Fire Department insists, "No matter how beautiful that tree is, if it becomes dry and the needles are falling off, you have to get that out of your home. Don't leave it there and think, 'Oh, I'm going to keep it 6 more days until Christmas.' Go get another tree or do something different. It is just not worth taking that chance."

Captain Hutchinson also stresses that it is important not to place Christmas trees or other flammable decorations near heat sources, such as heating vents, fireplaces, and candles. She says that amazingly when the holidays are over, some people try to discard their Christmas trees by burning them in their fireplaces, which is extremely dangerous due to the fact that dry Christmas trees are highly flammable and burn very quickly. If they are lit, even in a fire place, they have the potential of burning the room and injuring the person who has lit the fire. In her career Captain Hutchinson has unfortunately seen many tragedies resulting from this.

Wrapping paper is also an often forgotten source of danger during the holidays. In their excitement, people carelessly throw paper, bows and ribbons when they unwrap their gifts. If the paper lands near a heat source, such as a candle, fireplace or heat vent, it can easily catch on fire. Captain Hutchinson recommends that a designated person collect and discard of all the paper as soon as gifts are unwrapped to avoid this. She also suggests candles should not be lit during gift exchanges to help prevent this type of problem.

Unattended cooking during the holidays is often the cause of home fires. Tired or busy chefs sometimes leave food to cook, falling asleep or forgetting about it, and this food can easily ignite. During holiday cooking, children and pets should also stay out of the kitchen so that they do not inadvertently knock over cooking food and start a fire.

Chimney safety can be easily overlooked during the holidays, as well. At the beginning of the cold season, home owners often forget to clean and check their fireplace and chimney, according to Captain Hutchinson. They forget to open the flue, and then start a fire in the fireplace. The result can be a deadly house fire, and so it is important to take these simple measures prior to using a fireplace.

Despite the tragedies that firefighters witness during the holidays, this season can also be a heartwarming one for first responders. Throughout the year they serve their communities in many different ways, giving to those in need, and at Christmas they often run across situations during their time at work where they find families in need of help. Captain Julie Hutchinson relates her experiences with this. "There are some wonderful moments when we go into a home and may not realize that somebody was in need and doesn't have something. The fire station rallies together and within a few hours is able to put together gifts and food and items that really allow us to give back to people and remember how very lucky we are to have the careers and jobs we have and to be able to take care of our families."

This holiday season, Captain Hutchinson, CAL Fire, and FDNNTV remind people locally and across the nation to keep safety in mind while celebrating, and we wish you a Happy Holiday.

For further safety tips please visit, www.nfpa.org or http://www.safetyresource.org/firesafety.html .

To watch another holiday safety video, click here.