Holiday Safety for your home
One must only drive down Comox Ave or 5th street or listen to the music at the local grocery store, to realize the holiday season is upon us. This is an exciting time for visiting with loved ones, decorating the home, and looking forward to a visit from “the big guy” down the chimney. Unfortunately, some of this magic and wonderment can be lost if an avoidable injury or damage to the home occurs; therefore, when planning for the holiday season, one must not avoid taking some simple steps to mitigate any risk to the fun and festivities. When we think of Home Safety during the Christmas holidays, we immediately think of shoveling and salting walkways, or having a neighbour or friend hold the ladder to put up the lights; however, there are other potential hazards to consider and avoid. The following list was comprised to help with some home safety tasks:
Replace Old Lights and Use Them Correctly
Check holiday lights each year for frayed wires or excessive wear.
Don’t link more than three strands of holiday lights together in a chain.
Maintain Live Christmas Trees:
Water your live Christmas tree daily to keep it from becoming dry.
Sweep up dry needles as they are like pins in the digestive tract for dogs and cats if ingested… and if like my puppy, they will be.
Keep live trees at least 1m away from any source of heat.
Be Mindful of Poisonous Plants
Mistletoe and holly are beautiful, but the berries they produce are highly toxic and, in the case of mistletoe, potentially deadly. Twenty holly berries, and even fewer for white mistletoe berries, can be fatal.
If you have avoided having poinsettias in your home because of small children or animals, you’re not alone. But despite the commonly held belief that poinsettias are toxic, they aren’t. According to the McGill University Office for Science and Society, ingesting a couple of leaves can give you an upset stomach or cause vomiting. The biggest risk comes from touching, rather than eating, the plant, as it produces latex from its stem that can cause skin or eye irritation in humans and non-humans alike.
Space and Baseboard Heaters
Keep portable and space heaters at least 1 meter from anything flammable.
Never leave heaters on when you leave home or go to sleep.
Be aware when moving furniture for holiday decorating and hosting…don’t push the sofa up against the space heater to make room for the tree.
Fire Hydrants:
Clearing snow from Hydrants fronting your property will allow quick access if needed. In the event of a fire seconds count, and having the fire department shoveling snow from the hydrant can use up valuable seconds or minutes
Don’t Burn Wrapping Paper in the Fireplace: The inks used in wrapping paper, newspaper inserts, glossy magazines, pizza boxes and other items contain metals that give off toxic fumes when burned. Wrapping paper burns very quickly and can cause a strong updraft and float up the chimney. This is dangerous since flames that enter the chimney can ignite the creosote deposits in the flue and create a dangerous chimney fire.
Geoff McDonald, REALTOR ®
NFPA Certified Firefighter
Former Industrial Safety Manager