By admin Published December 14, 2021

Happy holidays from Carbondale Fire! With the festivities around the corner, we want to make sure that you are prepped and ready to enjoy your time with family and friends. Here are some of our favorite tips to help keep your days merry and bright.

Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

From the moment you pick up your tree, until you are ready to take it down, our helpful safety tips have you covered.

• When picking your tree, look for a tree with fresh, green needles that do not fall when you touch or move the tree. A healthy, happy tree will be less likely to catch on fire than one with dry needles.
• If you have a live tree, or a faux indoor tree, make sure that it does not block any exits and is safely away from all heat sources. Heat sources that can become dangerous include the fireplace, a heater, radiators, candles, heat vents, or lights.
• If you have a live tree, make sure to cut 2” from the base of the trunk and always keep your tree watered.
• When lighting your tree, make sure to check that your lights are for indoor use and not outdoor. We’d also recommend replacing any bulbs that are out and checking the wires for any sections that have wear or show signs of fraying.
• Always make sure to turn your Christmas tree lights off before you go to bed.

There’s No Place like Home for the Holidays

While you’re decorating your home for the coming weeks, we want to put a friendly reminder out there to help you avoid potential accidents.

• Try not to overload your home’s electrical circuits. If you need to plug in multiple cords for the lights or blow-up lawn decorations, try to spread it out between multiple power sources.
• Make sure your home is secure to potential break-ins, as this is the time of year when burglars know that you have gifts and items of value inside your home.
• Keep the same mindset when you are ordering gifts online and try to set the delivery day/time to when you know you will be home. Don’t let the porch pirates spoil your holidays!
• As we have already been experiencing colder temps, you probably have already done so, but if you haven’t – detach your outside hoses from the spigots! You don’t want to be dealing with pipes bursting during this busy time of year.
• Be prepared: keep a fire extinguisher indoors, have an exit plan, and make sure you’ve cleaned your chimney before you light that cozy fire.

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

We wrote about holiday food safety tips in our Thanksgiving blog last month, but you can never have too many tips when it comes to food safety.

• Use a food thermometer to ensure that your meat is cooked to the proper temperature before serving. This is especially important when cooking chicken, turkey, or seafood.
• Do not eat raw cookie dough or batter, no matter how tempting it is. Eating raw cooking dough can cause food poisoning.
• Thaw your meat safely and avoid thawing food on the counter.
• Always, always wash your hands when handling food for yourself and for others.

We hope you enjoyed reading our holiday safety tips and that you found some useful information! If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to reach out to your friends at the Carbondale Fire District. We wish you all a splendid holiday season!