In the most dangerous month for home fires, Tom Lyons from the National Fire Protection Association gives advice on holiday fire safety.
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00:00A warm home filled with friends, family and decorations and home-cooked meals
00:04are all family traditions and holiday traditions, but these festivities also
00:09include fire risks. And December is the most dangerous month for home fires. Tom
00:14Lyons from the National Fire Protection Association joins us with tips to ensure
00:18a fire-safe holiday season. Good morning, Tom. We want to know why do home fires
00:24increase during the holidays? Well, good morning. Thanks for having me on. When you
00:29think about the major causes of fire, be they cooking, heating or increased use of
00:35electricity, those are all major causes of fire. Then when you couple those with
00:41people bringing Christmas trees into their home, using lighting and candles,
00:45these can all increase fire risk. So it's easy to see why December is the worst
00:50month for home fires in the U.S. The good news is some simple steps and some, you
00:57know, taking some time for safety can cut those risks for you and your family.
01:01Well, that transitions us really nicely. We just saw a lot of video of folks
01:04cutting down Christmas trees. You mentioned folks bringing those into
01:07their homes. How can we keep our Christmas trees safe and not a fire
01:11hazard this year? Yeah, well, the good news is that fires involving
01:16Christmas trees don't happen often, but when they do, they can be quite serious.
01:20So the bottom line is a dry tree is a dangerous tree. You want to make sure
01:24that you're getting the freshest tree possible. Really take a look at those, the
01:29needles when you're buying the tree, and if they're falling off extensively, that
01:33tree may be too dry to bring into your home. When you do get it into the house,
01:37you want to make sure you water it every single day, and you want to place it in
01:42an area that's at least three feet away from any heat source, like a fire, a
01:48fireplace or a space heater or a radiator or a candle, and you want to
01:53make sure that it's not in front of a door or a window, which could be used as
01:57an accident case of a fire. Also, take a real strong look at the lighting that
02:03you put on. Make sure that the wiring is not frayed and that the bulbs are in
02:08good working order. When you go to bed at night or when you leave the house, make
02:12sure to turn those lights off, and for extra safety, unplug them. Now, we know
02:16decorations can cause some problems, but cooking fires are more common during the
02:20holidays, too, so how can we prevent them? Yeah, cooking fires are the number one
02:26cause of home fires throughout the whole year, and, you know, it's easy to see why
02:31in the holidays our kitchens just get a lot busier. There's a lot more people
02:34around, and that can cause distractions, so you really just want to make sure
02:38you're paying attention to what you're cooking, especially if you're cooking and
02:43frying or sauteing a stovetop. You want to make sure that you have a lid nearby
02:47so that if a small grease fire breaks out that you can put a lid on it. You
02:53also want to make sure that the cooking area is a kid-free and a pet-free zone
02:57in case something gets knocked off the stove. You want both your kids and your
03:02pets to be safe, and make sure that anything combustible near the range top,
03:07so dish towels or oven mitts, are kept away from the stovetop to help them from
03:14to keep them from igniting. And kid-free easier said than done, I'm sure Melissa
03:18can attest to this. Half the time I'm cooking with the baby, you know, on the
03:21hip trying to mix things, but Tom, I will be safe this holiday season. You probably
03:24hate to hear that. Tom Lyons, Director of Communications for the National Fire
03:28Protection Association. Thanks for keeping us safer this holiday season.