The do’s and don’ts of holiday decorating with lights, Christmas trees: Henrico Fire

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- As the holiday season kicks off, Henrico Fire Battalion Chief Doug Reynolds is sharing safety tips with 8News to help homeowners decorate lights and Christmas trees responsibly.

Reynolds said you should have one working smoke detector on every floor of your home. Unfortunately, a mistake with our holiday traditions — like lights or setting up Christmas trees — could make your season memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Reynolds recommended inspecting your tree lights from last year so fires don't start. When plugging the lights in, he said not to connect your extension cords to each other.

"Check for frayed wires, check for broken bulbs... These things are so inexpensive, don't take a chance with them. Just throw them away," Reynolds said.

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When it comes to candles, Reynolds urged homeowners to keep a 12-inch safety circle around anything that could catch fire.

"If there's greenery, if there's any decorations that are flammable, it's going to catch on fire. You want to move (your candle) away," Reynolds said.

To stay on the safe side, consider getting battery-powered candles.

"From first glance or across the room, they look like the real thing. They're just so much safer. You're not going to have those fires in your house," Reynolds added.

The same safety circle applies to Christmas trees, especially for real ones, which are much more flammable than artificial ones. Reynolds suggested not keeping the trees dry.

"You go home, put a 45-degree fresh cut and put it in a bucket of water, so it can start drinking the water back up," he said.

Before bed, Reynolds said to turn off the tree lights, unplug the cord from the wall and keep your tree three feet away from heat sources like candles, heaters, space heaters and the fireplace.

"Don't forget about the floor vents that you have in your house, because otherwise you're going to have that hot air blowing up through your Christmas tree. That's going to help dry the tree out even faster than that," Reynolds noted.

If you do not have a working smoke detector, most Greater Richmond fire departments will come to your house and install one for free. For additional fire safety information, take a look here.