It's time to deck those halls—safely. More than 800 home fires are caused by holiday decorations each year, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
Keep these tips in mind for a safe holiday season.
- Carefully inspect all electric decorations before you use them. Cracked or damaged sockets and loose or exposed wires can cause serious shock or start a fire.
- Make sure all extension cords and electric decorations are being used properly—indoor-rated cords indoors, outdoor-rated cords for outside.
- Inspect extension cords for damage and discard any that are not completely intact.
- Never mount or support light strings in a way that might damage the cord’s insulation.
- Outdoor electric lights and decorations should be plugged into circuits protected by ground-fault circuit interrupters.
- Exercise caution when decorating near power lines. Keep yourself and your ladder at least 10 feet away.
- Turn off all indoor and outdoor electric decorations before leaving home or going to sleep.
- Avoid overloading electrical outlets with too many decorations or devices. They can overheat and cause a fire.
- Never connect more than three strings of incandescent lights together.
- Water your Christmas tree daily.
- Keep all decorations at least 3 feet away from heating equipment.
- Avoid using candles. The flames are just too dangerous with all the flammable decorations around. '
- Purchase decorations from reputable retailers that are approved by a nationally recognized testing lab such as UL Solutions, Intertek or CSA Group.