HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- It's the most wonderful time of year, but it's also the busiest for Henrico Fire.
While some people may already have their Christmas decorations up, others will begin stringing lights Thanksgiving evening.
During the holiday season, more people are spending time in the kitchen cooking, so Henrico Battalion Chief Doug Reynolds shared some tips with CBS 6 to help keep you safe while enjoying all of the festivities.
The most common cause of a fire nationwide is the unattended stove, according to Reynolds.
"If you're a little forgetful, we call it a spoon trick," said Reynolds. "If you just hold on to a utensil when you leave, that keeps reminding you that you have something in the kitchen."
Reynolds said to be sure to turn the handles of pots or pans towards the back of the stove, so children won’t be able to reach over and accidentally pour hot liquid on themselves.
Cleaning out your stove before you start preparing turkey and casseroles is a good idea to help prevent an oven fire.
But if you do experience a small fire in the oven, Reynolds said to close the oven door and turn off the oven.
If a small fire starts on the stove top, Reynolds suggests you turn off the burner and use a lid or another pan to smother the flame. Don’t try to move that pot to the sink to try to put it out.
"You would really be surprised what happens when water, fire and hot grease meet," he explained. "I'm telling you, it's scary to watch as a firefighter. It's kind of really overwhelming, and we've also seen the trail of fire go out the house. So usually, a lot of times, it's better to fight it right here, you know, try to get a lid on it."
It's important to have smoke alarms and fire extinguishers in a place where everyone can easily locate them.
When it comes to holiday decorating, with the drought Central Virginia has experienced this fall, Reynolds says you need to be extra careful picking the right live Christmas tree.
"I'm always going to tell you to pull on the needles, and if you get some in your hands, it's not good," he noted. "Really shake it and kind of hit it on the ground, and if it's dropping a lot of pine tags, not your tree, you've got to look around."
When you get that tree up, Reynolds says you need to be sure to keep it at least 36 inches away from any heat source.
That includes space heaters and vents that may be blowing hot air because they can make your tree dry out even faster.
When it comes to putting lights on your tree or even around your home, Henrico Fire says you need to inspect last year’s lights and purchase new ones if you notice any bulbs are broken.
This time of year, Reynolds says it’s easy to want to string together multiple lights with multiple extension cords, but he explains don’t daisy chain or put together multiple cords and also do not try to hide them under rugs or other decorations. He says that is a major cause of electrical fires at Christmas time.
"The interesting thing about Christmas decoration fires is that candles cause 50% of them, which is really a big number, and it makes sense, because you're using them more than normal," said Reynolds. "But you've got more stuff around, more stuff on your counters. You've got Christmas decorations, and you've got the greenery. Sometimes it looks nice to have the candle in the middle of it, but wow, that is a potential for danger."
If you plan to string lights on the outside of your house, Henrico Fire suggests you clean your gutters and keep leaves away from any spotlights.
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