With extra decorations around many houses, the holiday season is a perfect time to take special care when it comes to fire safety. Unlike commercial buildings that have a warning sign fire risk related on show, households don’t tend to warn people about fire risks via signage. This is why it is so important to stay vigilant and aware.
According to Chief Nick Ban is the Chief of the Butler City Fire Department “You should really disconnect all your decorations before you leave the house. Just by chance maybe there is a small nick in the wiring of the Christmas tree lights. Maybe it’s a candle set too close to the curtains and you have old curtains. Those are the reasons that you should really stop and take a look. It’s all commons sense stuff, if it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t.”
December is the peak time for chances of candle fires and trees should be watered daily to reduce the rate at which they dry out and become more flammable.
An important part of any safety plan is functioning detectors but fire is not the only threat at this time of year.
“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is third in the nation for carbon monoxide deaths and annually there are around 500 of those deaths. It’s nothing to mess around with folks,” Ban cautioned.
People should also have chimneys professionally cleaned and heaters professionally serviced in order to reduce the chances of a fire.
With the increase in decorations like candles, lights, Christmas trees, etc., taking the right measures to maintain fire safety during the holidays is a must. For example, double-checking the wiring system and inspecting them for any damages, or reducing clutter such as gift wraps and other plastic decorations (which are susceptible to fire) could go a long way to ensure that safety precautions are in place during the holiday season. If you are planning on hosting a Christmas party or event, it may be necessary to have a fire risk assessing company inspect the venue to make sure it is compliant with fire safety laws. Nevertheless, it is also important to keep fire safety equipment such as fire extinguishers, sprinklers, and smoke detection alarms installed in the workplace as a measure of caution. Choosing the right type of safety equipment, like the type of fire extinguishers (in case you are interested, you could read about it here), and smoke alarms could help lower the damage that could occur in case of a fire.
The management could also secure the workplace with extra fire safety measures by ensuring that the fire safety equipment is working and in the correct place organizing a fire extinguisher servicing for example.
You can view the attached PDF file for more helpful tips about how you can reduce the danger of fire.
Written by Ryan Saeler
The post Holiday Fire Safety Tips appeared first on Inside Butler County – Butler, PA.
