CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As joyful and exciting as the holiday season can be, Christmas lights and decorations can change the mood quickly if they catch fire.
To keep your family safe during the holidays, safety experts from the American Red Cross are sharing some useful tips to prevent house fires. Possible fire hazards include everything from a Christmas tree to decorations, and cooking for the family can all increase the risk.
“Don't let something so trivial as an extension cord be the reason why you lose everything you own," Executive Director of the American Red Cross Southern Piedmont Chapter Sheila Crunkleton said.
Fire departments typically see an uptick in emergency calls around the holiday season. According to the National Firefighters Association, there are an average of 790 fires a year started by Christmas decorations alone.
Crunkleton said every second matters when a fire breaks out.
“You have less than two minutes to get out of your home after a fire, you need to have a plan, you need to have a meeting place, and you need to know what you're going to do," Crunkleton said. "And children need to practice that just like they do seatbelts, just like they do in schools with tornado drills."
Getting distracted can be easy, so the American Red Cross stresses how important having a working smoke detector is.
“A smoke alarm on a wall without a working smoke alarm is just decoration. That's not what we need," Crunkleton said. "We need to make sure that those are actually working smoke alarms. Check them monthly to make sure that they go off."
Also, as soon as the holiday season ends, waste no time to get rid of your Christmas tree because they get dryer and dryer the closer we get to January and dry trees are a fire risk.
Contact Myles Harris at mharris5@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.