Visalia issued the following announcement on Dec. 18
The holiday season is here and the Visalia Fire Department wants everyone to stay safe from home fires as they decorate their homes for the upcoming holidays.
"Decorations like trees, lights, and candles increase the risk of home fires during the holidays, with Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Years Day being the top three days for home candle fires," shares Battalion Chief Danny Wristen, Visalia Fire Department. "It is important to test your smoke alarms and practice your home fire escape plan."
How can you be prepared this holiday season?
Christmas trees, fireplaces, holiday decorations and candles all pose risks if not used properly and monitored.
A centerpiece of many holiday celebrations, Christmas trees in particular require special attention.
"For those who enjoy a real Christmas Tree, it is important to check the water level everyday. If you will be using an artificial tree, make sure your artificial tree has the fire-resistant label," provides Wristen.
Celebrating the holidays safely means that Santa isn't the only one making his list and checking it twice, now is the time to go through your home and check for anything that needs to be addressed.
The Visalia Fire Department and the National Fire Prevention Association provides these top 10 holiday safety tips:
1. Inspect electrical decorations for damage before use. Cracked or damaged sockets, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may cause a serious shock or start a fire.
2. Do not overload electrical outlets. Overloaded electrical outlets and faulty wires are a common cause of holiday fires. Avoid overloading outlets and plug only one high-wattage appliance into each outlet at a time.
3. Never connect more than three strings of incandescent lights. More than three strands may not only blow a fuse, but can also cause a fire.
4. Keep tree fresh by watering daily. Dry trees are a serious fire hazard.
5. Use battery-operated candles. Candles start almost half of home decoration fires.
6. Keep combustibles at least three feet from heat sources. A heat source that was too close to the decoration was a factor in half of home fires that began with decorations.
7. Protect cords from damage. To avoid shock or fire hazards, cords should never be pinched by furniture, forced into small spaces such as doors or windows, placed under rugs, located near heat sources, or attached by nails or staples.
8. Check decorations for certification label. Decorations not bearing a label from an Independent testing laboratory such as Underwriters Laboratories (UL), Canadian Standards Association (CSA) or Intertek (ETL) have not been tested for safety and could be hazardous.
9. Stay in the kitchen when something is cooking. Unattended cooking equipment is the leading cause of home cooking fires.
10. Turn off, unplug, and extinguish all decorations when going to sleep or leaving the house. Unattended candles are the cause of one in five home candle fires. Half of home fire deaths occur between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Original source can be found here.
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