Safety

The winter holidays are a time for celebration, which means more cooking, home decorating, entertaining, and an increased risk of fire and accidents. InterNACHI recommends that you follow these guidelines to help make your holiday season safer and more enjoyable.

Holiday Lighting

• Please be careful with holiday decorations and, whenever possible, choose those made with flame-resistant, flame-retardant, and non-combustible materials.
• Keep candles away from decorations and other combustible materials, and do not use candles to decorate Christmas trees.
• Carefully inspect new and previously used light strings, and replace damaged items before plugging lights in. If you have any questions about electrical safety, ask an InterNACHI inspector during your next scheduled inspection. Do not overload extension cords.
• Don’t mount lights in any way that can damage the cord’s wire insulation. To hold lights in place, string them through hooks or insulated staples–don’t use nails or tacks. Never pull or tug lights to remove them.
• Keep children and pets away from light strings and electrical decorations.
• Never use electric lights on a metallic tree. The tree can become charged with electricity from faulty lights, and a person touching a branch could be electrocuted.
• Before using lights outdoors, check labels to be sure they have been certified for outdoor use. Ensure all the bulbs work and that there are no frayed wires, broken sockets, or loose connections.
• Plug all outdoor electric decorations into circuits with ground-fault circuit interrupters to avoid potential shocks.
• Turn off all lights when you go to bed or leave the house. The lights could short out and start a fire.

Decorations

• Use only non-combustible and flame-resistant materials to trim a tree.
• Choose tinsel and artificial icicles of plastic and non-leaded metals.
• Never use lighted candles on a tree or near other evergreens. Always use non-flammable holders, and place candles where they will not be knocked down.
• In homes with small children, take special care to avoid decorations that are sharp and breakable, and keep trimmings with small removable parts out of the reach of children
• Avoid trimmings that resemble candy and food that may tempt a young child to put them in his mouth.

Holiday Entertaining

• Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires in the U.S. When cooking for holiday visitors, remember to keep an eye on the range.
• Provide plenty of large, deep ashtrays, and check them frequently.
• Cigarette butts can smolder in the trash and cause a fire, so completely douse cigarette butts with water before discarding them.
• Keep matches and lighters up high, out of sight and reach of children (preferably in a locked cabinet). Test your smoke alarms, and let guests know what your fire escape plan is.

Trees

• When purchasing an artificial tree, look for the label “fire-resistant.”
• When purchasing a live tree, check for freshness. A fresh tree is green, needles are hard to pull from branches, and when bent between your fingers, needles do not break.
• When setting up a tree at home, place it away from fireplaces, radiators and portable heaters. Place the tree out of the way of traffic and do not block doorways.
• Cut a few inches off the trunk of your tree to expose the fresh wood. This allows for better water absorption and will help to keep your tree from drying out and becoming a fire hazard.
• Be sure to keep the stand filled with water, because heated rooms can dry live trees out rapidly. Make sure the base is steady so the tree won’t tip over easily.

Fireplaces

• Before lighting any fire, remove all greens, boughs, papers, and other decorations from the fireplace area. Check to see that the flue is open.
• Use care with “fire salts,” which produce colored flames when thrown on wood fires. They contain heavy metals that can cause intense gastrointestinal irritation and vomiting if eaten.
• Do not burn wrapping papers in the fireplace. A flash fire may result as wrappings ignite suddenly and burn intensely.

Toys and Ornaments

• Purchase appropriate toys for the appropriate age. Some toys designed for older children might be dangerous for younger children.
• Electric toys should be UL/FM approved.
• Toys with sharp points, sharp edges, strings, cords, and parts small enough to be swallowed should not be given to small children.
• Place older ornaments and decorations that might be painted with lead paint out of the reach of small children and pets.

Children and Pets

• Poinsettias are known to be poisonous to humans and animals, so keep them well out of reach, or avoid having them.
• Keep decorations at least 6 inches above the child’s curious child or pet may eat it. This can cause anything from mild distress to death.
• Keep any ribbons on gifts and tree ornaments shorter than 7 inches. A child could wrap a longer strand of ribbon around their neck and choke.
• Avoid mittens with strings for children. The string can get tangled around the child’s neck and cause them to choke. It is easier to replace a mitten than a child.
• Watch children and pets around space heaters or the fireplace. Do not leave a child or pet unattended.
• Store scissors and any sharp objects that you use to wrap presents out of your child?s reach.
• Inspect wrapped gifts for small decorations, such as candy canes, gingerbread men, and mistletoe berries, all of which are choking hazards.

Security

• Use your home burglar alarm system.
• If you plan to travel for the holidays, don’t discuss your plans with strangers.
• Have a trusted friend or neighbor to keep an eye on your home.

The National Fire Protection Association’s fire prevention program promotes the following eight tips that people of all ages and abilities can use to keep family members safe, especially during the threat of a house fire.

1. Plan and practice your escape from fire.
   We’ve heard this advice before, but you can’t be prepared to act in an emergency if you don’t have a plan and everybody knows what that plan is.  Panic and fear can spread as quickly as a fire, so map out an escape route and a meeting place outdoors, and involve even the youngest family members so that everyone can work as a unit to make a safe escape.  If you live in a condo or apartment building, make sure you read the signs posted on your floor advising you of the locations of stairways and other exits, as well as alarm pull stations and fire extinguishers.
2. Plan your escape around your abilities.
   Keeping a phone by your bedside will allow you to call 911 quickly, especially if the exits of your home are blocked by smoke or flames.  Keep a pair of shoes near your bed, too.  If your home or building has a fire escape, take some time to practice operating it and climbing it.
3. Smoke alarms save lives.
   If you don’t already have permanently installed smoke alarms hard-wired into your electrical system and located outside each bedroom and on each floor, purchase units and place them in those locations.  Install them using adhesive or screws, but be careful not to touch your screwdriver to any internal wiring, which can cause an electrostatic discharge and disable them.  Also, install carbon monoxide detectors, which can protect family members from lethal poisoning even before a fire starts.
4. Give space heaters space. 
   Whether saving on utility bills by using the furnace infrequently, or when using these portable units for spot heating, make sure you give them at least 3 feet of clearance.  Be sure to turn off and unplug them when you leave or go to bed.  Electrical appliances draw current even when they’re turned off, and a faulty unit can cause a fire that can spread through the wires in the walls at a deadly pace.
5. If you smoke, smoke outside. 
   Not only will this keep your family members healthier and your home smelling fresher, it will minimize the chance that an errant ember from your cigarette will drop and smolder unnoticed until it causes damage.
6. Be kitchen-wise. 
   This means monitoring what you have on the stove and keeping track of what’s baking in the oven.  Don’t cook if you’re tired or taking medication that clouds your judgment or makes you drowsy.  Being kitchen-wise also means wearing clothing that will not easily catch on the handles of pots and pans, or graze open flames or heating elements.  It also means knowing how to put out a grease fire:  water will make it spread, but salt or baking soda will extinguish it quickly, as will covering the pot or pan with a lid and turning off the stove.  Always use your cooktop’s vent fan while cooking.  Also, keep a small, all-purpose fire extinguisher in a handy place, such as under the sink.  These 3-pound lifesavers are rated “ABC” for their fire-suppressing contents. Read the instructions on these inexpensive devices when you bring them home from the store so that you can act quickly, if the time comes.
7. Stop, drop and roll.
   Fight the urge to panic and run if your clothes catch fire because this will only accelerate its spread, since fire needs oxygen to sustain and grow.  Tamping out the fire by rolling is effective, especially since your clothes may be on fire on your back or lower body where you may not be immediately aware of it.  If ground space is limited, cover yourself with a blanket to tamp out any flames, and douse yourself with water as soon as you can.  Additionally, always stay close to the floor during a fire; heat and smoke rise, and breathable air will normally be found at the floor-level, giving you a greater chance of escape before being overcome by smoke and toxic fumes.
8. Know your local emergency number. 
   People of all ages need to know their emergency number (usually, it’s 911).  Posting it near the phone and putting it on speed-dial will save precious moments when the ability to think clearly may be compromised.

Keep your family safe by following these simple tips!