December is a time for Eggnog, Caroling, and beautiful Christmas Decorations; all combining to warm our hearts and bring us much anticipated Holiday Cheer. While you are trimming your trees and putting up those Christmas lights take a moment to do a critical fire safety check around your home. December and January are the peak months for home fires and home fire deaths.

There are several reasons for this increase, including colder weather requiring us to turn on those heaters that haven’t been used in several months. Also, so many of us do incredible amounts of baking and cooking during this season leading to a busy and possibly cluttered kitchen. Forty percent of home structure fires resulted from kitchen fires.

Another common cause of house fires during this time of year are those wonderful candles that make our home smell like cinnamon and apple pie. While all these things are usually safe, it is entirely possible that if done or used in a careless manner can have a devastating impact on your holiday season. The Prescott Fire Department wishes you a most joyous Christmas and New Year and we encourage you to take a few minutes and complete this safety checklist.

• Have your wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, chimney connectors and all other solid-fueled heating equipment inspected if it has not been done within the last year. And clean as often as recommended by the inspector or manufacturer.
• Dispose of fireplace ashes in a metal container after completely cooled.
• Keep a minimum of 36” of clear space around a space heater.
• Keep an eye on the stove while cooking. Do not leave stove on unattended.
• Keep things that can catch on fire away from stove top. (Dish towels, grocery bags, etc.)
• Keep candles, matches, and lighters out of reach of children.
• Place candles away from things that can burn (furniture, curtains, decorations, etc.).
• Do not leave candles burning unattended.
• Inspect electrical decorations for cracking or fraying, as well as bare or loose wiring.
• Turn off electrical decorations before leaving the house or going to bed.
• Keep your fresh Christmas tree well-watered.
• Test your smoke detectors and replace the batteries if necessary.
• Have a fire extinguisher in a convenient location in the home. The gauge arrow should be in the green. Know how to operate the fire extinguisher.

If you think that the fire might be too big to put out with the extinguisher get out of the house and call 911.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The Prescott Fire Department