Holiday Safety Tips to Prevent Property Damage
The holidays are upon us – which means home decorating, entertaining and more cooking. According to the NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (NFPA) the holiday season also brings an increased risk of fire, which can cause severe property damage. To fully enjoy the holidays take a few moments and review some safety tips from the NFPA:
Decorating
~Never leave a candle unattended. Almost 40 percent of all fires occurred after candles were left unsupervised or inadequately controlled.
~Keep candles away from flammable items. More than half of all candle fires start when things that can burn are too close to the candle.
~Don’t place candles where a family pet is likely to knock them over.
~Always extinguish all candles before going to bed. Thirteen percent of candle-related fires started after the user fell asleep.
~Choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant.
~Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both. Choose lighting that has a UL label.
~Replace any string of lights with worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Connect no more than three strands of mini lights sets and a maximum of 50 bulbs for screw-in bulbs. Read manufacuterer’s instructions for number of LED strands that can be connected.
~Use clips, not nails, to hang lights so the cords do not get damaged.
~Keep decorations away from windows and doors.
Entertaining
~Stay in kitchen when cooking on stovetop. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires in the U.S.
~Provide plenty of large, deep ashtrays and check them frequently. Cigarette butts can smolder in the trash and cause a fire, so completely douse cigarette butts with water before discarding.
~Keep matches and lighters up high, out of sight and reach of children (preferably in a locked cabinet).
~Test your smoke alarms and let guests know what your fire escape plan is.
Christmas Tree Video
This video demonstration is showing how flammable a dry Christmas tree can be as opposed to a tree watered regularly. This test was conducted by the National Fire Protection Association and Underwriters Laboratories.
“Reproduced from the NFPA’s web site © NFPA (2011)”. Visit their website for more information: http://www.nfpa.org.
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