WASHINGTON — Holiday decorations are beautiful to look at, yet tough to manage.
Each year, there are hundreds of fires throughout the U.S. involving Christmas
trees and other decorations.
And each year, people die because of those fires.
There were roughly 230 Christmas tree-related fires each year between 2007 and
2011, according to the National Fire Protection Association. During that time,
there were 150 blazes per year due to decorative lighting, the data show.
Dr. Erik Schobitz, head of the pediatric emergency room at Adventist HealthCare
Shady Grove Medical Center, says a lot of the burns he sees this time of
year involve candles.
“They light candles, either for a religious reason or a personal reason, and
then they leave the room, or go to sleep leaving the candle on and it starts a
fire,” he says.
More than half of all home candle fires occur when something flammable gets too
close to flames, according to statistics from the U.S. Fire
Administration.
“It is a lack of paying attention,” Schobitz says, “and it is unfortunate
because it can have devastating consequences.”
Electrical problems can also cause fires, so check your lights carefully before
putting them on the tree. And be sure to keep heat sources away from branches.
Oh, and those electrical lights you want to put on your house?
“We seen people falling putting up the lights,” Schobitz says.
The ladder needs to be strong, sturdy and on a flat surface. But it’s also
important to have someone at the bottom of the ladder to hold it steady. Never
entrust that job to a child.
“I put a flag up on my house the other day,” Schobitz says, “and the seven-year-
old wanted to hold it and I said ‘no, I want the 15-year-old, 180-pound person
holding my ladder.”
Holly can be poisonous to humans and pets. Schobitz says a close relative once
put a holly branch in their mouth while taking their gloves off.
That person had a severe reaction.
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