Holiday Safety!

11/22/2021 (Permalink)

Taking steps to prevent holiday fires can help reduce the risk, but there’s always a possibility of a fire. If your home suffers fire damage, SERVPRO®

The holiday season is an exciting time of the year for most families but that excitement can quickly be extinguished if a fire occurs in the home.  The U.S. Fire Administration says that almost 47,000 fires occur during winter holidays taking more than 500 lives.  The National Fire Protection Association and U.S. Fire Administration have found that 1 of every 22 home fires started by Christmas trees result in death and candle fires are four times likely to occur during the winter holidays.  These are only two of several frequent occurrences during the holiday season for too many families.  To help keep your family safe this season, below are some safety tips to follow.

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree…

Setting up the Christmas tree can mark the beginning of the Christmas holiday for many families. Unfortunately, if they are not properly set up and taken care of, they pose a large fire risk.

• Freshly cut trees are more resistant to ignition. So considering that while picking out the perfect tree for your home.
• Remember to constantly keep your Christmas tree watered and away from any heat source such as fireplaces, radiators, candles, or heat vents.

 Christmas lights, Christmas lights, lighting up December nights...

While holiday lights can add a fun ambiance to your home, it’s important to decorate safely. 

• Make sure to carefully inspect holiday light strings each year and discard any with frayed cords and loose connections.
• When replacing bulbs, unplug the light string and make sure you match the voltage and wattage to the original bulb.
• Be sure to remember to always turn off those beautiful holiday lights when you leave the house unattended or when you are going to bed.
• While purchasing light strings, extension cords, spotlights, electrical decorations, gas appliances, or carbon monoxide alarms, look for the certification mark of an accredited certification organization such as CSA International, UL, or ELT to ensure that the products comply with applicable standards for safety and performance.

Danger, Danger, High Voltage...

• Remember to never connect more than one extension cord together; instead you should use a single cord that is long enough to reach the outlet without stretching, but not so long that it can get easily tangled.
• Test your smoke alarms monthly to make sure they work, and be sure to install smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms on every level of your home .
• We recommend you use an outdoor timer certified by CSA International to switch lights on and off. Lights should be turned on after 7 p.m. to avoid the electricity rush hour.

Hanukkah, Oh, Hanukkah
Let's light the menorah...

If your family uses menorahs for Hanukkah, you could consider using an electric one to cut down on fire hazards. If you prefer traditional candles, just be careful.

Keep the menorah at least three feet away from flammable items, and make sure you place a non-flammable surface, like an aluminum foil-lined tray, underneath the menorah to catch the melting wax.

Hey good lookin' whatcha got cookin'....

The holidays don’t feel like the holidays without delicious food. While cooking always presents potential fire hazards, home cooking fires always spike up around the holiday season.

• When you have lots of cooks in the kitchen, it’s easy for things to get messy and confusing. However, a cluttered, chaotic kitchen is a hazardous kitchen.
• Make sure to keep flammable objects, like towels, packaging, and potholders, away from the stove.
• Communicate with everyone in the kitchen so you don’t leave the stove-top or oven on when it’s not in use.
• Wipe up spills quickly, and don’t let grease pile up around a burner.
• If a deep-fried turkey is on the menu, make sure you fry it on a flat surface outside at least 10 feet away from the house.

Try to remember…

• To help prevent CO hazards in your home, have an HVAC company perform a yearly maintenance check of your furnace and venting system, and clean or replace your furnace filter frequently during the heating seasons.
• Do not store combustible materials such as gasoline, propane, paper, chemicals, paint, rags, and cleaning products near your gas furnace. Gasoline or propane cylinders should be stored outside the home.
• The National Fire Protection Association recommends that chimneys be swept at least once a year at the beginning of the winter to remove soot and debris. 

Taking steps to prevent holiday fires can help reduce the risk, but there’s always a possibility of a fire. If your home suffers fire damage, SERVPRO® of Tarrytown/Elmsford can help.

We have the knowledge and experience to properly treat fire and smoke damage to make your home “Like it never even happened.” We offer 24/7 emergency service; call us anytime at 914-358-9000.