Extend an invitation to safety for the holidays

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

You’ve probably started tuning it out already-the annual safety rant on the evening news.

Blah, blah, trees, blah, blah, candles, blah blah, extension cords, blah blah. But that’s somebody else whose house burned down, won’t happen here, not me.

Next thing you know, I’m arriving with my buddies, and the mood is anything but festive, as thoughts of figgy pudding are replaced by those of flashover.

NIOSH produced a video showing how quickly a scotch pine tree would take an ordinary room from first wisp of smoke to zero visibility, spontaneous ignition of all furnishings, along with ceiling temperatures above 1000°F. Start to finish is around 120 seconds.:eek:

This link from the Consumer Product Safety Commission offers valuable information. Hopefully, the trend is changing for the better, as the National Fire Protection Association indicates an all-time high for candle related fires in the last year for which data has been compiled, their report shown here.

Please take a few minutes to read these reports, and apply the information. Otherwise you may end up with a dozen sweaty firemen in your house. If that’s what you’re into-that’s OK, too. Save the subject for another thread, probably in the Pit. :wink:

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Thanks danceswithfire, we’re grateful that you’re concerned about us, and the links are quite informative.

The cautions, however, seem to be dependent on knowing what you’ve got. I bought a fake tree this year and it didn’t come with any printed info about its composition or flame resistance. The lights I have aren’t very old, but I don’t have the literature that came with them either (although I do know that they have fuses). So I don’t know what I’m working with here. On top of that, when I’m not here the cats might be chewing on the bulbs or wires. So I’m hampered in trying to calculate my risk factors. I have a lot of questions, but the most pressing to me is whether you think I could get the dozen sweaty firemen without having to set fire to my house…it’s so cool that you guys still make house calls!

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And never lick the lavalamp! It’s hot.

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Thanks for the good advice Mr. Whistling Sweets, and welcome to the boards!