Firefighters urge safety precautions while decorating for the holidays

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    HOLYOKE, MA (WSHM) — This time of year, the greatest threat of house fires comes from your Christmas tree.

That’s why the Holyoke Fire Department is offering some advice to keep you and your family safe as the holiday season kicks off.

“According to the NFPA, there are over 160 fires per year that are sparked by Christmas trees,” said Holyoke Fire Lt. Maria Pelchar.

Pelchar has seen first-hand the devastation that comes when Christmas trees catch fire around the holidays.

“It is the hardest time of the season because you want to be happy…Now, your whole house…your whole house is destroyed,” Pelchar explained.

Although real trees pose the greatest danger, Holyoke Fire told Western Mass News you also have to be careful with fake trees.

Just three years ago, their department responded to an artificial Christmas tree fire that claimed the lives of three people after the tree lights were left on for multiple days in a row.

“Make it a habit to turn off your Christmas tree lights every time you leave the house or go to bed or consider using a timer, so you don’t forget,” Pelchar noted.

They told Western Mass News that one of the best bits of advice is to inspect all the lights before stringing them on your tree.

“If you see a frayed wire, just throw it away. If you have lights you’ve used for many, many years, highly consider changing them to LED lights…One in every three Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical failures. One in every five Christmas tree fires are caused by the heat source being too close to the tree,” Pelchar added.

Additionally, if you do have a real tree, the best thing you can do is water it daily.

“A dry tree can catch on fire easily and ignite a room in less than one minute…Please water it every day, so it doesn’t become dry and turn off the lights before you leave the house or before you go to bed,” Pelchar said.

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