We want everyone to have a wonderful Christmas – rocking around the Christmas tree with family and friends, but most importantly we want everyone to have a safe Christmas. Over the Christmas period there are lots of extra fire hazards in the home and we have some top safety tips to help everyone step into Christmas safely.
- Keep candles away from Christmas trees, curtains or anything else that could catch fire and don’t leave them burning unattended.
- Check your Christmas tree lights conform with safety standards and always switch them off before going to bed.
- Make sure you have a fire escape plan and share this with everyone in your household and any guests staying over Christmas.
- Don’t leave cooking unattended, it’s safer to take pans off the heat and turn the hob, oven or grill off.
- Make sure new electrical appliances have a British or European safety mark when you buy them.
- Don’t overload plug sockets.
- Test your smoke alarms and make sure they are working. Fit a heat alarm in the kitchen – this will detect an increase in temperature caused by fire, but not be set off by cooking fumes.