Decorate safely this holiday season
ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Many people are preparing to put up their Christmas decorations and with that in mind, Liberal Fire Chief Kelly Kirk said there are some safety precautions to keep in mind while making things merry and bright.
“There's a multitude of ways people can decorate for Christmas – some people are more minimal, some people go absolutely all out. There's typically lights involved among all of that, both indoor and outdoor, so there's the electrical hazards to keep in mind,” Kirk said. “If you are using a lot of lights, follow the manufacturers' instructions and make sure to inspect them for any fraying or damage, especially your outside lights since they're more susceptible to the elements, and be sure to not overload your electrical outlets and don't have your light cords running through pinch points like in doors or windows. If you're going to hang your lights with nails or clips, make sure you have everything arranged so whatever you're using doesn't actually damage anything. A lot of decorations will include live Christmas trees, and there will also be a lot of electric lights or other decorations used. If you use an artificial tree, they're generally very safe and most of the fires involving those are electrical in nature, so we definitely encourage people to inspect their lights for any fraying or exposed wires or anything like that. With live trees, if you want to keep it alive for the whole season, we recommend a 45-degree angle cut on the stump and making sure there's plenty of water for it the entire time it's up and as far as decorating, use low-temperature lights and make sure everything's safely distanced because live trees can catch fire frighteningly fast and are very intense.”
