Electric Caution this Holiday

POINT PLEASANT — The holidays are a joyous time of year, with decorations ranging from simple strands of lights to elaborate outdoor displays. Whether entertaining guests, decorating the home, or shopping for gifts, it is easy to get caught up in the holiday season.

For millions of people, Christmas and New Year’s Day also is a time to reflect on family traditions and the important role that they have played in helping to make happy memories each year.

Unfortunately, winter also is a time when more residential fires and electrical accidents are caused by the increase in energy use to prepare meals and host friends and family at home. During this time, accidents including shock, burn and electrocution, are at an increased high.

However, many of these injuries can be prevented by following a few important safety tips for these winter months given by the Holiday Safety Campaign directed by the Electrical Safety Foundation International.

• Carefully inspect each electrical decoration. Cracked or frayed sockets, loose or bare wires, and loose connections may cause a serious shock or start a fire.

• Always unplug electrical decorations before replacing bulbs or fuses.

• When hanging decorations, do not connect more than three light strings together.

• Turn off all indoor and outdoor electrical decorations before leaving home or going to bed. Twenty percent of the population does not follow this safety precaution.

• Avoid overloading electrical outlets, which can overheat and start a fire.

• Choose holiday decorations made of flame-resistant, flame-retardant or non-combustible materials.

• Never allow children or pets to play with electrical decorations.

An estimated 76 percent of homeowners across the United States decorate their homes for Christmas and 70 percent of those use electrical lighting and decorations indoors. Holiday decorations and Christmas trees account for nearly 2,000 fires and more than $41 million in property damage each year.

Nearly one-quarter of Americans have not replaced their smoke detector batteries within in the last two years. This is especially critical to understand since 25 percent of all home decoration fires occur in December with 56 percent of those home fires being ignited by candles. On Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 alone, there are more than 200 fatalities and injuries caused by home fires.

The Holiday Safety Campaign also gives safety information about space heaters, post-holiday safety, extension cord safety, electrical products, and holiday energy use and efficiency.

Since the holidays are filled with gatherings, this special time of the year is unfortunately when parents often overlook dangers facing their children. The number of children injured and killed by fires more than doubles during the winter holiday months. The ESFI reminds parents to keep their children safe by recognizing and eliminating additional electrical shock and fire hazards that the winter months bring.

Some of those safety tips include:

• Never leave a child unsupervised while cooking or when an electric or gas stove is within reach. Unattended cooking is one of the leading causes of home fires during the holidays.

• Don’t use space heaters in rooms where children are unsupervised.

• When visiting the homes of others, remember they may not be childproofed.

• When buying presents for children, avoid any that might be flammable.

Other facts surrounding holiday safety include that roughly 33 percent of homeowners admitted to keeping their space heaters running overnight and another 19 percent admitted to leaving them unattended. This is why more than 25,000 residential fires every year are associated with the use of space heaters.

More than 78 percent of homeowners use extension cords as permanent wiring. Nearly 3,300 residential fires originate from extension cords each year, killing and injuring over 300 people. One-third of homeowners report owning six or more extension cords.