Save your Christmas tree and holiday plans from going up in flames

By Bo Emerson

Dec 17, 2018

This story has been updated.

This holiday season be careful it’s not your living room roasting on an open fire.

Every year about 200 Christmas trees go up in flames. Even more fires — 14,000 a year — are attributable to candles, which lead to about 170 deaths and $350 million in damage, acccording to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

“A tree can go up in a matter of seconds to minutes,” Megan Popielarczyk of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Safe Kids Georgia previously told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Safe Kids Georgia and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recommend these precautions to keep the season bright:

The tree:

Make sure your Christmas tree is fresh; keep it watered; cut two inches off the base of the trunk to allow it to absorb more moisture.
Keep the tree away from fireplaces, radiators and vents.
Turn off the lights on your tree when you're away from home or sleeping.

The lights:

Check lights, new or old, for frayed wires or cracked bulbs.
Turn off outdoor decorative lights when away from home or sleeping.
Never put electric lights on a metallic tree.
Make sure your smoke alarms work.

The decorations:

Keep fragile or sharp-edged ornaments above the reach of young children.
Holly berries, mistletoe berries, poinsettia and other decorative plants are poisonous. Keep them out of reach of children, and keep the Poison Control Center number posted. (1-800-222-1222)
Extinguish candles when you leave the room.

On the way to grandma’s house:

Automobile accidents increase in November and December. Be sure to wear safety belts and put children 8 years old or younger or 4-foot-9 or shorter in car seats.

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