Editor’s Note: Madawaska Valley Fire Chief Corwin Quade provides these tips for a safe holiday, as well as the link below to a must-watch video (only 1 minute long)
TIP 1 – HOLIDAY LIGHTS
Use outdoor-rated LED lights and hang with nail-free clips this year. Cut your losses and toss damaged strings – an electrical fire is a sure bet for a lousy holiday. Make the holidays even brighter with working smoke alarms!
TIP 2 – TREE WATERING
Falling needles = a dried out tree and potential fire. Don’t be a statistic. Water your tree daily, keep heat sources away from the tree including furnace vents and non-LED lights. The best gifts under that tree are working smoke alarms in your home!
TIP 3 – CANDLES & DECORATIONS
Holiday decorations and open flames are a fire hazard all too common this season. Use battery-powered candles, keep candles away from pets and children, put candles in sturdy containers and always blow out when you leave the room. Make the holidays happy with working smoke alarms!
TIP 4 – SMOKE ALARMS
‘Tis the season for fire safety! Most fatal fires occur during the holidays. When seconds matter, a working smoke alarm is the gift of time in the event of a fire. An alarm on every storey, tested monthly, and batteries replaced annually, is the best gift you’ll give your family this season. Make the holidays happy with working smoke alarms!
TIP 5 – CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS
Carbon monoxide (CO) is an invisible, odourless, and deadly gas that can cause flu-like symptoms. A CO alarm can alert you to a potential CO emergency with four beeps and is the best way to protect your family from The Silent Killer. Make the holidays even happier with working smoke and CO alarms!
TIP 6 – EXTENSION CORDS
Extension cords should only be used with certified devices as a temporary solution. If you need more power, call a licensed electrician for more outlets, don’t overload a circuit, and never run cords under a rug. Plug into holiday fire safety this year with working smoke alarms!
TIP 7 – KIDS IN THE KITCHEN
Holiday baking with children this holiday season? Keep an eye on your bakers and remember to never leave the oven unattended. Safety first, cookies second! Make your holidays cheerful and sound—test your smoke alarms year-round!
TIP 8 – HOME FIRE ESCAPE PLANS
Give your family the gift of peace of mind with a home fire escape plan and have two ways out of every room to ensure your loved ones are prepared for the worst so you can focus on the best: festive cheer! Make the holidays happy with working smoke alarms and a plan to get out safely!
TIP 9 – COOKING
Holidays are stressful. Go slow in the kitchen and avoid being a statistic. 17 percent of fires in Ontario are cooking-related, mostly caused when the stove is left unattended. Be mindful when cooking and never leave the kitchen while using a stove. A working smoke alarm is your best ingredient this holiday season!
TIP 10 – HEATING SOURCES
Practice fire safety this Winter Solstice with space heaters, wood stoves and fireplaces. Keep at least one metre (3 feet) distance between your heat source and combustibles, like paper and fabrics. Make the holidays happy with working smoke alarms!
TIP 11 – SMOKING
Cigarettes are Ontario’s number one cause of fatal fires. This season, have all smoking done outside using deep, sturdy ashtrays. Never flick your butt – a lit butt might be the difference between a holiday to remember and a holiday you’ll never forget. Make the holidays happy with working smoke alarms!
TIP 12 – LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES
There’s a good chance gifts exchanged this season have lithium-ion batteries which may pose a fire risk. Stay fire safe and don’t overcharge, use mismatched chargers, homemade batteries, or aftermarket replacements. Make the holidays happy with working smoke alarms!
Other useful stuff to know:-
(1) DON’T over-fuse your circuits:- ie don’t put 20- and 30-amp fuses in 15-amp circuits. You need to visually inspect the cable and check the code on the insulation for its rating:- if it is not explicitly rated for 20- or 30-amp service then you MUST assume that it is only a 15-amp circuit and fuse it accordingly. Most older houses in this area built before 1955 were retrofitted for electricity ca 1955 and later when electric power first became available locally and often retain outmoded wiring and fuse-panels and they often cannot keep up with modern power-hungry appliances but DO NOT overfuse your circuits to try power them:- this is a sure recipe for disaster.
(2) DO CHECK electric wall-heaters annually. Wall-heaters typically have both a thermostatically-controlled circulation fan and an overlimit switch which cuts the power if the heater overheats. However perchance if both the fan thermostat and overlimit switch fail then the unit can overheat in cold weather when they run constantly and eventually catch fire due to gross overheating.
(3) Lithium batteries can be little firebombs waiting to blow up and at least ruin a device or a computer and possibly even burn down your home. On your laptop you should set the battery-management app for 80% max charge and with bigger batteries use the charger supplied with the device and battery to avoid overcharging which could explode your battery and cause a fire. For automotive use (ie jump starting and boosting) I prefer to use an AGM (absorbent glass mat) lead-oxide-acid battery from a good brand such as DeWalt with its own built-in charging unit and microporocessor:- these are very reliable and will not explode:- the lithium technolgy is still not sufficiently developed to allow consistent safe usage for jump-starters so I prefer to play it safe and avoid them. The government really needs to establish better safety standards for lithium batteries:- they might explode only very occasionally but those explosions can have catastrophic results so it’s best to be cautious in using lithium batteries.
(4) Chronic exposure to carbon monoxide below what will trigger a CO alarm can also make you quite sick with symptoms similar to both the flu and to anemia. The source typically is a fuel-oil- or wood-combustion unit with an unsealed combustion chamber which can release CO back into your home when there is negative air-pressure inside. Older propane units with open combustion chambers generally emit very little to no CO:- they burn with a hydrogen-rich blue flame unlike carbonaceous fuels which burn with a carbon-rich yellow flame which do emit much more CO.