AUSTIN, Texas — The American Red Cross states nearly 47,000 fires occur during the winter holiday, claiming more than 500 lives, causing more than 2,200 injuries and costing $554 million in property damage.
As more people gather around the holidays, Aris Papadopoulos, founder of the Resilience Action Fund, says now is the time to increase awareness and education about building resilience in your home.
“It's a great, beautiful time of the year, but it's also a very hazardous from a fire perspective time for people's homes. A lot of people don't realize that a live tree needs water even when it's placed in the house,” said Papadopoulos.
Papadopoulos says there's nothing that can burn faster than a dry tree. So when buying your Christmas tree, make sure that it's fresh and the needles don't break off easily. If you're going to keep it for two or three weeks, it needs water to stay fresh and not dry out.
Also, choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant and use clips, not nails, to hang lights so the cords do not get frayed or damaged.
“If they're paper decorations or plastic, those could easily catch on fire, metal and glass is a lot better. So pick your decorations carefully. Also, how far you place the tree and your decorations from anything that can cause a fire like a fireplace. I recommend being at least three feet away from a fireplace or a home heater radiator, something that can produce heat and cause of the fire to start,” said Papadopoulos.
When it comes to holiday cooking, it’s recommended to keep anything that can catch on fire such as pot holders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, food packaging and towels or curtains away from your stovetop.
Ensure all smoke alarms are working properly. Smoke alarms should be installed near your kitchen, on each level of your home, near sleeping area, and inside and outside bedrooms if you sleep with doors closed.
Experts say its a good idea to designate one person to walk around your home to make sure that all candles and smoking materials are properly extinguished before going to sleep.
“Even though we enjoy the lighting and the decoration, my recommendation is, we enjoy them enough during our wake up hours, let's turn everything off to sleep peacefully and comfortably at night,” said Papadopoulos.
Papadopoulos says we have to take care of our houses. As we enter the new year and start planning and making our resolutions, put home safety and anything we can do to improve our homes on that list. Such as, repairing the roof or replacing it and fixing the windows. He also recommends if you live in storm prone areas, repairing any leaks as well.