Here Are Some Holiday Fire Prevention and Home Fire Safety Tips

About 3,500 Americans die each year in fires and about 20,000 are injured.

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, live Christmas trees account for about 240 fires each year in the United States, resulting in more than $16 million in property damage and about 13 deaths. 

Typically, shorts in electrical lights, open flames from candles, lighters or matches cause the tree fires. While well-watered trees usually are not a problem, dry and neglected trees easily can go up in flames.

Here are some tips from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) on how to stop a fire before it starts and what to do if you have a fire:

• Have a working smoke alarm that can sound fast for both a fire that has flames, and a smoky fire that has fumes without flames. It is called a “dual sensor smoke alarm.” A smoke alarm greatly reduces your chances of dying in a fire.
• Prepare an escape plan and practice it often. Make sure everyone in your family knows at least two escape routes from their bedrooms.
• Do not place your holiday tree close to a heat source, including a fireplace or heat vent. The heat will dry out the tree and it could catch fire by heat, flame, or sparks more easily.
• Never put holiday tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood-burning stove.
• When the tree becomes dry, remove it from your home right away. The best way to get rid of your tree is to take it to a recycling center or have it collected by a community pick-up service.
• Check holiday lights each year for wires that are worn out or coming apart, bare spots, gaps in the insulation, broken or cracked sockets, and a lot of bends or twists in the wire.
• Only use laboratory-tested lighting and extension cords.
• Never overload outlets or extension cords. Connect strings of lights to an extension cord before plugging the cord into the outlet.
• Do not leave lit holiday lights on unless someone is in the room.
• Avoid using lit candles. If you do use them, make sure they are in stable holders and put them where they cannot be easily knocked over and start a fire.
• Never leave the home with candles burning.

The above video from the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shows what happens when fire touches a dry tree.

Within seconds of ignition, the dry pine, which is on the right, is completely ablaze. On the left, flames set in the tree placed in water quickly go out.

Stay safe this holiday season!