How Dangerous Are Christmas Decorations?

12/16/2019 (Permalink)

Candles are beautiful and warm, but can post a threat to our safety this holiday season.

Happy holidays! As the excitement and anticipation of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas increases, many families bring out decorations to celebrate. December is the time of year where you can have a great time driving around neighborhoods, seeing all the lights and inflatable characters and decorated trees at each house. But before we get quick to celebration, it’s important to check that all of our holiday decorations are safe, especially after spending an entire year sitting in our storage, waiting to be used again. Here’s what you can do to ensure safety is a priority during the holidays, to keep the season as magical as it is.

• Not all holiday lights are interchangable.

While we do use very similar looking lights on both the exterior and interior of our homes, they’re not safe to use interchangeably. Lights made for decorating the Christmas tree are not prepared for the outdoors. When lights are designed to cover the outside of the house, they’re made to stand strong and safe against weather like snow and wind. When lights meant for the indoors are used outside, they can be damaged by the weather and pose threats as serious as fires. When buying lights, make sure to read the directions on the box, ensuring that you are not posing a fire threat to your home. And when packing up after the holidays end, try and return all the lights to their original boxes so they can’t be confused next year.

• Check your extension cords are read for wear and tear of the outdoors.

Why wouldn’t you want all the trees in your yard to glow bright and amaze your neighbors? For that, you’ll need an extension cord. When you use one, make sure that it is safe, by checking for wear and tear. In addition, don’t overload your extension cord by attaching all your yard’s lights to one single  cord. Like the lights, these cords usually come with instructions that can explain the best way of using them in order to avoid possible fires. 

• If your tree is real, don’t forget to water it.

It can be easy to forget to water a tree since we only need to during the holidays, but it’s a vital part of avoiding fire hazard. See, fire burns far easier on dry, dying pines than it would on a well-watered one. The safest thing you can do is have your lights be hung on a healthy tree.

• Candles are beautiful, but keep them away from decorations.

The smell of holiday scented candles adds to the magic of the home during the holidays, however that open flame should be intentionally placed. Never place your candles around the tree, lights, or fabric and paper decorations. Try to have constant locations for placing your candles, where you know no hazard exists and where the open flame can be monitored.

In any case, we at SERVPRO of East Dayton / Beavercreek hope you and your family enjoy a wonderful and safe holiday season. If you do have an accident this holiday season, make sure to call us at (937) 228-3433. We’ll do everything we can to ensure that your holidays are as magical as they can be by restoring your home as quickly as possible.