Christmas time is probably the most joyful and festive time of the year, but unfortunately, it is also at time when tragedy visits many families in the form of a house fire. You can greatly improve holiday home safety by assessing your home and determining the greatest risk factors. We created a list of Christmas fire safety tips, which we hope you will read and maybe even post on your refrigerator for the family to see.

1. Keep lit candles in a safe place away from clutter, and never leave lit candles unattended.
2. If you use a live tree, keep it sufficiently watered. If the branches show any signs of drying or begin dropping a lot of needles, it’s time to get ride of it.
3. If you have an artificial tree, be sure it’s labeled "Fire Resistant." That doesn’t mean it can’t catch fire, but it will at least resist burning and extinguish more easily if a fire starts.
4. Whichever type of Christmas tree you use, make sure you have a stable, sturdy tree stand that is sufficient to keep the tree from falling over.
5. Inspect and test your Christmas tree lights, and don’t use them if there are bare or frayed wires.
6. Avoid overloading outlets with lights. Yes, having plenty of twinkling lights makes your house look festive, but an overloaded outlet is a serious risk for an electrical fire.
7. Unplug tree lights and lighted decorations before leaving your house.
8. When wrapping gifts, don’t leave scissors or any cutting devices where small children might play with them.
9. Don’t throw used wrapping paper in the fireplace. Paper burns quickly and can send burning embers up the chimney, starting a chimney fire.
10. Never burn the branches of your Christmas tree in the fireplace. Pine needles crackle and pop, but they also throw embers out of the fireplace. In addition, pine can be very sooty when it burns, causing a build-up of dangerous creosote.

Talk to your family members about this Christmas fire safety list and look around your house to assess where you might have risk factors to address. By thinking now about holiday home safety, you can spend more time later enjoying the festivities instead of worrying about an accident.

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*Content expressed in Home Security Source does not represent the thoughts and opinions of ADT Security Services, Inc. unless explicitly indicated.