Keeping your home and loved ones safe at Christmas takes a little bit of extra attention when compared to the normal fire-prevention measures followed throughout the year.
Christmas involves more decorations, which may or may not be flammable. Often there are more people in the home throughout the holiday. The use of alcohol could be a factor. When you add in extra cold weather and plugged-in vehicles, the potential for danger increases.
“There's never a good time for a fire,” said St. Albert Fire Prevention officer Les Mroz. “But at Christmas, when people are displaced from their homes, it seems even harder.”
Mroz suggested people click on http://www.ofc.alberta.ca/ofc-winter-fire-safety, to watch a video produced by the National Fire Prevention Agency. The video shows two natural Christmas trees. One has been watered and the other one is dry. Both trees were set on fire, but the dry one was a raging blaze in seconds. The other watered tree burned more slowly so if such a fire occurred, people would have more time to react and get out of the house safely.
“On the unwatered tree, it takes 10 seconds from ignition until it is a full blown fire,” Mroz said.
The experience of Fort McMurray's spring fire teaches the lesson of how flammable dry trees can be, he added.
“We know the volatility of trees from Fort McMurray's fire and we remember the tenacity with which they burned,” Mroz said.
Still, even if a tree is artificial, people need to make sure it is away from flammable sources such as heaters and candles. They need to check the wiring on Christmas lights.
"Extension cords are the biggest problem. With extension cords the danger is they may be overloaded. Never plug in more than three together," he said.
Sometimes people cover up extension cords with a rug, to avoid the danger of having someone trip, but that could be a fire hazard too.
“If you cover a cord, and there is heat generated from that cord, perhaps because it is faulty, a blanket or a rug holds the heat in,” Mroz said as he made an analogy to covering up with a blanket in bed.
“A blanket covers you and holds the heat in. If you have that covered cord under the Christmas tree, there is a potential fire hazard.”
Mroz also cautioned against overuse of power bars.
Power bars are fine for low-wattage plug-in devices such as phones and computers and even modern televisions, he said, but be careful of plugging in too many appliances.
“You have to be careful of using larger wattage appliances simultaneously. Usually it will blow the breaker, but watch if you are using stoves, microwaves, dishwashers, block heaters, hair dryers all on one power bar.”
Candles with a live flame seem to be an obvious potential hazard, but Mroz explained the danger comes when people forget them or get busy entertaining and stop paying attention.
“Cooking is another danger, especially grease fires,” he said.
Mroz imagined a Christmas morning scenario with the commotion of opening presents and at the same time, someone cooking bacon on the stove. Perhaps – just for a moment – the bacon is left and a fire starts.
“Never leave something alone when you are cooking. Stay in the kitchen,” he said.
Check smoke alarms. Check the carbon monoxide detector. And be as safe as possible using your own common sense.
“People think it's all smoke and mirrors when we give out these warnings, but most fires are preventable. House fires are so tragic because people suffer personal loss, loss of pets and in the worst case, loss of life,” Mroz said.
