Christmas Safety At Home

Stay safe this Christmas.

Many accidents can happen during the Christmas season in and around your home. Make sure you stay safe with these Christmas safety tips:

• Double Check Lights: Before using Christmas lights outdoors, check labels to be sure they have been certified for outdoor use. Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, house walls, or other firm supports to protect the lights from wind damage. Use insulated staples to hold strings in place, not nails or tacks. Or run strings of lights through hooks.
• Lights Out: Always turn off Christmas lights when you leave the house unattended or when going to bed.
• Use Only One Extension Cord: Never connect more than one extension cord together; instead use a single cord that is long enough to reach the outlet without stretching, but not so long that it can get easily tangled.
• Outdoor Lights: When hanging outdoor Christmas lights, keep electrical connectors off the ground and away from metal rain gutters. Use insulated tape or plastic clips instead of metal nails or tacks to hold them in place.
• Smoke Alarms: 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 — especially near sleeping areas.
• Live Tree: When purchasing a live Christmas 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. The trunk butt of a fresh tree is sticky with resin, and when tapped on the ground, the tree should not lose many needles. You should also make sure your Christmas tree is away from fireplaces and radiators.
• Fireplace Safety: Do not burn Christmas wrapping papers in the fireplace. A flash fire may result, as wrappings ignite suddenly and burn intensely. Before lighting any fire, remove all greens, boughs, papers, and other decorations from fireplace area. Check to see that the flue is open.