If your family celebrates Christmas, your home is probably filled with decorations right now. Those decorations might be beautiful, and looking at them might bring a smile to your face, as you think of memories of Christmas from previous years. Unfortunately, many Christmas decorations come with their own, potential, risks. Here is some advice about how to avoid having to file insurance claims this Christmas.
Is your Christmas tree a real one? If so, you need to be especially careful about open flames. Real trees have a tendency to dry out very quickly. If there are lit candles, or a roaring fire in your fireplace too close to where your Christmas tree is located, there is potential for the tree to ignite. Although your homeowners insurance should cover the damages caused by a fire, no one wants to have a house fire at Christmas time! Fortunately, there are things you can do to prevent a fire from ever occurring.
Candles should always be placed in a holder that is designed to hold candles. Make sure they are placed on a flat surface, so there is less chance of the candle toppling over. Be sure that the surface you place the candle on is heat resistant. Never place a lit candle near a curtain, or too close to furniture. Always keep an eye on the candle after it has been lit, so that you can take measures to prevent the hot wax from spilling out onto the carpet.
Always make absolutely certain that all the candles are completely extinguished before you leave your home, or before you go to bed for the night. The same advice holds true for the fire in your fireplace. Unattended open flames are dangerous!
Make sure that you do not overload your electrical outlets, as this can cause a fire. This is good advice all year round, but especially important around Christmas. Suddenly, you need to find an outlet to plug in all the strands of Christmas lights that are decorating your tree. You might also need to plug in the lights that are decorating the edge of your windows, or that are connected to your roof. Do you like to decorate with some of those large, inflatable, Christmas lawn decorations? Those need to be connected to a generator, which needs to be connected to an outlet. It’s much safer to select a few decorations, that can be safely plugged in, than to try and outshine your neighbor’s outdoor decorations. Applying some common sense can be the difference between a house fire, and a happy holiday season.
Image by Moni Sertel on Flickr