How to Be Fire Safe for the Holidays

The holiday season is upon us with Thanksgiving just days away and it is important that you are fire safe. Fire safety is key to a fun, stress-free holiday season that keeps everyone in your home safe at all times.

Even though fire safety should be a year-round topic in your home, it becomes even more important during the holidays. You will likely be cooking a lot of meals at home, including a turkey on Thanksgiving. Whether you use the traditional oven or fry your turkey, a lot can go wrong if you are not careful.

Aside from cooking, Thanksgiving week/weekend is a popular time for people to decorate their homes for Christmas. This includes buying a Christmas tree, hanging lights on the exterior of homes, and possibly overloading outlets and circuits.

As you can see, fire safety at home during the holiday season doesn’t just involve cooking. There are plenty of ways you can be fire safe and we will discuss them in today’s post.

How to Be Fire Safe: Cooking During the Holidays

Cooking is the leading cause of home fire and injuries caused by home fires every year. The numbers from 2021 are staggering:

• Roughly 170,000 home cooking fires
• 135 deaths from home cooking fires
• 3,000 injuries
• $494 million in property loss

Now, for some life and property saving fire safety tips when cooking during the holidays:

• Never leave a pan unattended with the burner lit
• Put a lid on pots with boiling water
• Turn all pot and pan handles toward the back of the stove to avoid burns and knocking them over
• Keep a baking sheet within reach should you need to use it to cover a fire
• Move all flammable items away from the stove
• Do not wear overly loose or long clothing when cooking
• Do not plug any appliances into extension cords

Turkey Safety for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has become a popular time for people to experiment with new ways to cook their turkeys. For this reason alone, fire departments across the country respond to thousands of home cooking fires on Thanksgiving Day. Follow these tips to avoid a fire when cooking your turkey either in an over or in a fryer:

• Use the fryer outdoors and not on a porch or under an overhang
• Make sure the fryer is at least 10 feet from any structure
• Place the fryer on flat ground
• Do not let your children or pets near the fryer
• Lower and raise the turkey into the fryer slowly to prevent oil spills and fire
• Only use a turkey that has thawed completely and is dry
• Keep a fire extinguisher (multipurpose, dry powder) near the fryer in the event that oil catches fire

Fire Safe Holiday Decorating Tips

Cooking is not the only fire danger present during the holiday season. Decorating can also lead to home fires no matter the age of your property. Whether you decorate your home to the nines or only erect a single tree; you should still practice fire safety by following these tips:

• Check light strands each year and throw away those that are worn, torn, pinched or frayed
• If you have a real Christmas tree, make sure it is watered often – at least daily (a dry tree is more likely to catch fire)
• Use flameless candles operated by batteries
• Do not leave your tree plugged in and turned on when not at home
• If you do use real candles, leave them one foot away from anything flammable
• Read all of the manufacturer’s guidelines for your decorations and do not string together more than the recommended number of light strands
• Remove your Christmas tree not long after Christmas or when you notice it has dried out
• Set up your tree three feet from heat sources (fireplace, vents, space heaters, radiators or candles)
• Do not block any exits with the tree

Please watch the following video to see how quickly a dry Christmas tree can burn if not watered properly:

Do you have tips for a fire safe holiday season? Have you experienced an unfortunate fire during a holiday? Your story might help save someone from that same stress. Please share it in the comments section.

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