Fire Safety Tips For The Holiday Season

No matter how different your usual Christmas festivities may look this year in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, odds are, there will still be at least some similarities. If you’re having a small festive celebration in your home with flickering lights and winter greens, this can unfortunately present fire risks that can quickly turn devastating if the proper precautions aren’t taken. With fire safety risks increasing during the holiday season, special care and attention needs to be taken in our homes. We’re going to take a look at our fire safety tips for this time of year, to add another important element of safety to your holiday season.

Real Vs. Artificial Tree

Whether you opt for a real Christmas tree or an artificial tree, there are still fire hazards that go along with each of them. While you may already know that your real tree can be a fire hazard if you don’t take care of it properly, you may not know that your artificial tree may not be fire resistant. 

Toronto firefighters tell the Toronto Sun what to look out for when it comes to both real and artificial trees:

“When buying a tree there are considerations such as a real tree should be fresh with green needles that are hard to pull off and the stand should be kept filled with water. An artificial tree should have a fire-resistant label. All trees should be kept away from fireplaces and radiators.”

Holiday Cooking

If you’re still indulging in your famous Christmas turkey this year (and you should be!), it’s important that you don’t allow yourself to get distracted. There are many important elements to ensuring that both your house and kitchen are prepared for fire safety, including checking to ensure that your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working.

Fireline.com tells us why cooking is the number one cause of holiday fires:

“The most common culprit is unattended food on the stove. It’s easy to get distracted; take a potholder when you leave the kitchen as a friendly reminder that you’ve got something on the stove. Remember to keep an extinguisher in your kitchen area, and check your smoke detectors to make sure they’re working. If you are planning to deep-fry a turkey or ham, do it outside on a flat and level surface at least 20 feet from your house.”

Give Space Heaters Space

Last but not least, if using space heaters to keep in that extra bit of holiday warmth, it’s important to give them space. Space heaters can pose significant fire and electric shock hazards if not used properly and if set too close to other objects. Fire and electrical hazards can also be caused by space heaters without adequate safety features, if they’re placed near combustibles, or are improperly plugged in.

The Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs tells us why it’s important to keep your space heaters as far away from other objects as possible:

“If you are using space heaters to help take the chill off, remember to keep them at least one metre (3 feet) away from anything that can burn such as curtains, upholstery, or holiday decorations.”

Fire-Alert takes pride in equipping homeowners with all necessary fire safety devices to ensure the well-being of families across the nation. Reach out to us using our contact form to find out more.