Holiday Decorating Safety Tips

Tis the Holiday season to decorate and be merry! During this time of the year Regency DRT wanted to give some quick tidbits for a safe and merry holiday!

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 11pm and 7am. (NFPA)

Use battery operated candles.

Candles are the start of almost half of home decoration fires.

Never connect more than three strings of lights.

If more than three strings are connected, it can blow a fuse and possible start a fire.

Protect cords from damage.

To avoid shock or fire hazards, cords should never be pinched by furniture, forced into small spaces such as doors and windows, placed under rugs, located near heat sources, or attached by nails or staples.

Keep trees fresh by watering daily.

Dry trees are a serious fire hazard.

Do not overload electrical outlets.

Overloaded electrical outlets and faulty wires are a common cause of holiday fires.

Inspect electrical decorations for damage before use.

Cracked or damaged sockets, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may lead to electrocution or start a fire.

Keep combustibles at least three feet from a heat source.

Decorations too close to a heat source was a factor in half of home fires that began with decorations.

Stay in the kitchen when something is cooking.

Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home cooking fires.

Check decorations for certification labels.

Decorations not bearing a label from an independent laboratory, such as Underwriter Laboratories (UL), Canadian Standards Association (CSA), or Intertek (ETL), have not been tested for safety and could be hazardous.