How to Survive the Holidays Safe and Sound

'Tis the season for making lists and checking them twice. And according to Andrew Tucker, director of public education for the Broomall Fire Co., it can also be a season filled with potentially lethal home safety hazards. So it pays to double check those lists to keep your home safe this holiday season.

A 2006 report from the U.S. Fire Administration showed a significant increase in the incidence of home fires around the holidays. According to the report, holiday fires claim the lives of more than 400 Americans in an average year, injure 1,650 more, and cause more than $990 million in damage.

To keep your home safe and your holidays merry, Tucker outlined for Patch the following hot list of holiday hazards everyone can guard against.

• Holiday or any day, test your smoke detectors regularly. The best defense against fire is a properly working smoke detector. And this becomes even more crucial during the holidays when the risk is higher. Tucker recommends testing once per month to ensure your detectors are in prime working condition.
• Keep that tree hydrated. If you decorate with a fresh-cut tree, make sure it's just that. Pull a branch through your fingers before you buy it. You're looking for a tree that doesn't shed needles easily. Once you get it home, keep the tree watered and conduct the needle test every day. If the tree stops drinking or starts to shed needles, it becomes a greater fire hazard by the day.
• Make time to inspect lights and wires. "Before you add one strand of lights to the tree or lawn display, inspect for bare, frayed or crimped wires," said Tucker. "If you're using a staple gun to mount lights, make sure the staples aren't going into the wire."
• Practice good candle safety. Never leave a lighted candle unattended. But also pay close attention to where you place the lighted candles. Avoid high-traffic areas, and even tablecloths or table runners that can be pulled off by young children. The National Fire Protection Association suggests having a three-foot "kid-free zone" around any open flame or space heater.
• Know your power limits. It's a good rule of thumb never to string more than three sets of lights together, end-to-end. But always check the manufacturer's guidelines to be sure, said Tucker. "It's especially important to be aware of the limitations of power strips. Just because it has six outlets doesn't mean you can automatically plug six things into it." Again, check for the maximum load and be sure to stay within the manufacturer's suggested range.
• Safe is more important than pretty. "Some people hide power strips away, behind couches or under train displays," said Tucker. "But if one were to malfunction or catch fire, you want it out in the open, not stuck under a highly combustible couch."
• Sometimes even self-cleaning ovens need some help. "We have gotten calls before–especially around the holidays–where people set their self-cleaning ovens to clean automatically," said Tucker. "What happens here is that the oven will lock and get really super-heated. But if the oven is really dirty, the material inside can catch on fire. It's a contained fire, but it can produce a lot of smoke." If you have any doubts, Tucker suggests cleaning excess material out of your oven first, before activating the self-cleaning feature.
• Prep the chimney for Santa and for fire safety. Tucker said the Broomall Fire Co. has already seen several chimney fires this year, which occurred when residents lit fires in the fireplace without properly cleaning the chimney first. "We suggest having the chimney professionally swept to ensure the best protection," said Tucker.
• Recycle holiday waste, don't burn it. As tempting as it might be to wad up discarded wrapping paper for the fireplace, it can produce too many sparks, said Tucker. Likewise, evergreen boughs should be discarded outdoors, not burned. The sap from the branches causes the fire to pop, which could ignite nearby combustibles.

For more information on how to keep your home and hearth safe this holiday season, consult these Holiday Decoration Safety Tips from the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.