Make Safety a Part of Your Holiday Plans

by COUNTRY Financial

By remembering a few holiday season safety practices, everyone can be sure to have a safe and enjoyable time together this holiday season.

1. Prevent Christmas tree fires 

If including a live tree is part of your plans, be sure to buy it from a local farm. Transported trees are usually cut earlier than locally grown trees and are more likely to be dry, which makes them more prone to catching fire. Should there be no local tree farms near you, ask how long ago your tree was cut down. To determine whether a tree is parched, shake it to see if it’s in need of hydration. If green needles fall, then the tree is dry. Brown needles falling means they were likely just trapped. Either way, the “shake test” can be a good indicator of whether the tree is a potential fire hazard. Another good practice is to cut one inch off the base of the tree. This helps water move more easily through the trunk and keeps your tree green. Many tree vendors will do this for you. Once you’ve picked your tree, make sure you check the water level daily. A six-foot tree should use a gallon of water every two days. Also, remember to place your tree away from heat sources such as indoor heaters or open flames that could dry the tree out or cause a fire.

2. Inspect your lights 

When decking the halls, keep indoor lights, lighted decorations, and extension cords inside the house. In many cases, these are not created for outdoor use. Whether you’re purchasing decorations for a live or artificial tree, only buy materials with a “fire resistant” label.

Synchronizing your outdoor lights to a holiday soundtrack to be the envy of the neighborhood? That’s wonderful, but be sure to use only outdoor approved lights, lighted decorations, and extension cords. Of course, make sure to check all cords, lights, and lighted decorations for frays, loose connections, or damaged plugs. Finally, always unplug or turn off all decorations that use electricity before leaving the house or going to bed.

Candles, lighters, and matches all help make the season bright, but they can also pose fire hazards. Keep candle wicks trimmed to 1/8 of an inch and keep all open flames away from trees, other evergreens, curtains, and other flammable surfaces. Today, you can also buy simulated candles that set the mood with a realistic glow while keeping things safe.

3. Only use outdoor and indoor lights as indicated

As their names suggest, indoor and outdoor lights have different purposes. It may seem like common sense, but don't use indoor lights outside or vice versa. 

Outdoor lights are usually waterproof and hardened against the elements. Water intrusion in electrical components is extremely dangerous and can cause shorts, which can in turn lead to fires.

For this reason, you should always inspect lights before installing them, even when using indoor and outdoor lights properly. In other words, make sure to inspect your outdoor lights for damage or breaks in the cables.

4. Protect your gifts 

For gift giving, remember to keep giftwrapped packages out of sight of your home’s windows and doors. Don’t leave boxes for big-ticket items out on the street.  Instead, put them in black trash bags and don’t run them to the curb until trash day.  This way, would-be thieves won’t see what new gadgets you unwrapped.

5. Turn off holiday lights and space heaters when away or asleep

This one is simple—when you're not home, turn off your electric holiday decorations. House fires can happen anytime, from virtually any electrical appliance.

And since the holidays are in the colder months (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, at least), you should also be wary of space heaters. People die each year from fires caused by space heaters, so if you use them, make sure they're off before you leave the house. If you need a space heater to sleep, keep cloth, blankets or other flammable materials away from it while it's on.

6. Maintain wood-burning fireplaces and chimneys

Have your chimney cleaned and inspected every year by a professional qualified to do so. Residue or blockages left in your chimney from previous burns can ignite or block smoke and embers from rising, which increases the risk of fire in your home.

On a related note, don't ever throw wrapping paper into the fire. Doing so can cause rapid changes in the fire's flame and induce a sudden increase in smoke, which can billow into your home. You don't want to breathe that smoke, either; wrapping paper isn't designed to burn and releases countless toxic chemicals when it does.

7. Don't overload circuits, extension cords or electrical sockets

Holiday decorating safety is vital. When you're wiring up your holiday decorations, do it right. Don't buy socket splitters and load 10 light cables into it. If you're using surge protectors with extension cords, don't use more than two or three lights per extension cord.

As we're sure you know, one spark from a poorly-loaded socket can casue a fire and ruin your holidays.

8. Keep holiday plants away from pets

This is one of the most overlooked aspects of holiday safety. Holiday plants like poinsetta's are beautiful, but did you know they're extremely toxic to cats and dogs? Same with mistletoe. Keep these and any other holiday plants out of reach of your pets.

As an aside, pet insurance is a good idea no matter the season. If you have pets—especially ones who like to get into things—it's a good thing to look into before the holidays roll around.

9. Travel safely

If you're traveling for the holidays, don't overshare your plans on social media. You never know who's watching, and someone with bad intentions could break into your house if they know you're gone.

Another smart travel tip: Buy timers for the lights in your house. Set them to turn on when you would if you were home to make it appear that someone's inside.

Finally, take a closer look at your auto and home insurance before you travel; many policies have coverage that can protect you on vacation.

Final thoughts

By remembering a few Christmas holiday safety tips for displaying your tree, handling decorating and storage of gift-related items, you, and those you care about, can ensure you’re truly staying safe and sound this holiday season. 

 

Updated 11-8-24