As Christmas approaches a local firefighter is offering tips to celebrate safely.
Starting in the kitchen, people should try to keep everyone out of the room while they’re cooking, leaving only essential people in there. This is because there will be a lot of hot pans and movements with sharp objects as people cook their holiday meals, said Mike Pruitt, deputy chief of the Bargersville Community Fire Department.
This is especially important when there is visiting family, especially kids, Pruitt said.
Cooks should make sure to pay attention to what they are doing as they make holiday meals. If they become distracted and leave something cooking on a stove, for example, a fire could break out, he said.
“It’s very important that we pay close attention and not get distracted to the point where we forget what we’re cooking. We run into hazards there,” Pruitt said.
People also should avoid burning discarded wrapping paper. It should instead be thrown in the trash, he said.
Burning the paper outside is illegal and burning it in a fireplace or wood stove can build up creosote in the flue. That could lead to the creosote catching fire, possibly expanding to the rest of the home, Pruitt said.
“Don’t burn any of those products in your fireplace because we know what happens. I’ve seen people do it,” he said.
People who have live Christmas trees should make sure to take of them, as they can become a fire hazard. If a tree starts to turn brown or if a significant amount of needles fall out of it when it is shaken, those are signs it has become too dry, Pruitt said.
Though it would not “spontaneously combust,” if the tree came into contact with something hot, like a candle, it would be a major fire hazard, he said.
“Removing that tree is going to be the safe thing to do,” Pruitt said.
Live trees are safe if they are properly watered and taken care of, he said.
When it comes to discarding live trees, people should research where to properly dispose of them. There are a variety of options, he said.
More information on where Johnson County residents can dispose of their live Christmas trees can be found in Tuesday’s Daily Journal.
