Christmas Season Is Fire Season: Protect Yourself
The holiday season is generally associated with gift-giving, good cheer, and spending time with family and friends. We decorate our houses, both inside and out, with lights and other seasonal items. This can create beautiful displays. However, it can also create dangerous conditions.
Awareness is the first step toward keeping your home safe from a fire this holiday season. Let’s look into what you need to know.
Fire Facts
The National Fire Protection Agency reports that US fire departments, on average, respond to about 160 fires that started with Christmas trees every year. These fires are responsible for an average of three deaths, 15 injuries, and $10 million in property damage. Electrical issues were blamed for 44% of these fires.
But Christmas trees aren’t the only source of holiday fires. Other decorations are responsible for an average of 780 home fires every year. These fires are responsible for an average of three deaths, 34 injuries, and $12 million in property damage. 19% of these fires are the result of a decoration being too close to a stove or oven while someone is cooking. Candles are also responsible for a large portion of these fires.
Are you in need of alarm systems in Nashville? Visit NCA Alarms to see how they can help keep you safe this holiday season.
Install an Alarm System
There are always going to be some factors that are out of our control. But we can prepare for the worst and pay attention to all of our areas of risk to reduce the chance of a fire.
The very first thing you should do is to make sure you have smoke detectors installed throughout your home. The number of smoke detectors you should have depends on the size of your house. At minimum, you should have a smoke detector in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area (like a hallway), and on each level of the house (including the basement). So, for instance, if you have a two-story house that has two bedrooms, you should have at least four smoke detectors. If you’re on the fence about if you should have a smoke detector in a certain area, put one there. You can never have too many of them. And if they are already installed, be sure they have live batteries in them.
These alarm systems will cover you if something starts to go wrong. But how do you make sure nothing goes wrong in the first place?
Preventing Fires
Cooking is a large part of the holiday season. Large gatherings mean large amounts of food are prepared. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and become careless with where flammable items are placed. Pay close attention to any decorations that are near a heat source or flame. Move them away when you are cooking and put them back when you are done.
Keep your Christmas tree watered. A dried tree burns much faster than one that has been kept moist. Along those lines, check the lights you are going to use to decorate the tree. Old strands should be replaced with new ones. Broken bulbs should be swapped out. And don’t pile too many plugs into one outlet. It’s tempting to chain together power strips, but this can overwhelm an outlet and lead to fires.
Watch your candles. It’s very easy to light one and forget all about it. But these are actually a reasonable danger in your home. Keep them away from flammable decorations. Try to only buy candles that are encased in a jar or some other covering. A candle left open to the room is susceptible to being knocked over or coming in contact with something that can catch on fire. Keep these open flames in mind while they are lit.
Make sure any decorations or extension cords used outside of your home are meant for outdoor use. There is a difference between extension cords marked for indoor and outdoor purposes. The main difference is in the insulation—outdoor extension cords are better-suited to withstand moisture and temperature changes.
Check Your Alarm Systems Nashville
NCA Alarms has everything you need to keep your home secure in case of a fire this holiday season. Smoke detectors can let you know as soon as something starts to go wrong, and fire panic buttons on your home security panel can let the authorities know as well. Trust over 20 years of experience to keep everyone in your home safe so you can focus on the traditions you love.
Visit NCA Alarms for alarm systems in Nashville.