Overcoming fire safety hazards from holiday decorations

While a festive season deserves all the celebration, a serious concern is the number of people who end up having to visit hospital emergency rooms due to preventable injuries resulting from holiday decorations. In the US, the months of December and January record the maximum number of home fires - most of them from decorations on Christmas trees- and injuries/ deaths on account of this.

To mitigate the fire safety hazards arising from holiday celebrations, some safety guidelines have been provided by Underwriter's Laboratories and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Some of the tips they provide - called TLC (Tree, Light and Candle) safety tips- are given below.

Fire protection of the Christmas tree
•Cut one or two inches off the bottom of the Christmas tree and place it in water as soon as possible.
•Keep the base of the tree filled with water at all times.
•Keep the Christmas tree at least three feet from fireplaces and other heat sources
•Ensure that the tree does not block an exit.

Precautions for fire protection from faulty lighting
•Inspect and ensure the integrity of all electrical decorations and connections as they can be responsible for serious electrical shocks or fires.
•Ensure that the items bear the requisite quality standards.
•Limit the number of lights strung together in the decorative piece.
•Ensure all light strings and decorations are switched off.

Ensuring the candles don't cause havoc
Lit candles may be romantic, but certainly they have proven to be a major health hazard during the holiday season. Take the following elementary precautions:

•Blow off candles before leaving a room
•Keep burning candles away from decorations, curtains, bedding, paper, furniture and other combustible materials.
•Don't let children and pets play near burning candles.

Kyne Rollers writes on diverse topics related to surveillance and security and fire safety, fire prevention and protection