The ham, turkey and cake-baking, the tree and house-lighting....all those are hallmarks of this season – but they are also straight-up fire hazards. And sure enough, Christmas is the peak season for house fires and this year the Fire Department is being pro-active. This morning Assistant Fire Chief Ted Smith and other senior fire fighters were on Albert Street spreading Christmas joy along with fire safety tips. Smith says that common mistakes in holiday preparation and celebration could lead to disaster.
Ted Smith, Assistant Fire Chief
“The purpose of these fire safety information is to reduce the likelihood of fire occurring in homes. People tend to want to hook up a lot of outlets and adapters in their electrical appliances or sockets in the wall, increasing the load out of that outlet. You know that a home we use 110 volts so an outlet only carries 110 volts. If you hook so much items in it that you are trying to get more than 110 out of it, it can overheat the insulation, cause the wire to get hot, and eventually the insulation breaks down its ability to resist the heat and catches fire.
Some of our stoves don’t work often enough and this time of the year we work the stove form prolonged hours and you sometimes there are mice and rats in the home that haul out the insulation, make it get exposed to heat within the heat, the insulation would catch fire, and set the stove on fire in some cases. The information in here helps to reduce that risk so that you can ensure that your stove is ready, it helps you to ensure the stove is clean, ensure it is properly packed, and if the insulation catches fire it provides guidance; you turn the tank off and send for the Fire Department to come and quickly deal with the situation.
These information that we are providing to the public is for them to learn these safety tips and then reducing the likelihood of a fire occurring in homes.”
You can pick up the fire safety tips from the fire station in your area.
