Health News Share Email Print Avoid holiday fires Tips for trees, candles and lights. View the infographic Avoid holiday fires Tips for trees, candles and lights. Trees 160 home fires involving Christmas trees occur each year. To avoid fire: Choose a fresh tree. Look for green needles that are hard to pull from branches and don't break when bent. The trunk should be sticky. Take the tree down after the holiday. Don't burn it in a fireplace or stove. Keep the tree away from fireplaces, radiators and other heat sources. Heat can dry out a tree and make it more flammable. Water the tree daily. Candles 7,400 home fires involving candles are reported each year (December is the peak month for candle fires). To avoid fire: Place candles where they can't be knocked down or blown over. Consider using battery-operated candles instead of real ones. Keep candles away from flammable decorations (including trees). Extinguish candles when you leave the room. Use nonflammable candle holders. Lights 790 home fires involving decorations occur each year. To avoid fire: Check new and old lights for broken sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections. Dispose of damaged lights. Make sure outdoor lights are certified for that use. Choose decoration that are flame-resistant or flame-retardant. Turn lights off before you go to bed or leave the house. Reviewed 8/31/2023 Sources: Consumer Product Safety Commission. “Furniture, Furnishings and Decorations.” https://www.cpsc.gov/Safety-Education/Furniture-Furnishings-and-Decorations. National Fire Protection Association. “Candles.” https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Top-fire-causes/Candles. National Fire Protection Association. “Winter Holidays.” https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Seasonal-fire-causes/Winter-holidays. Related stories Health information main Health tools go Select a health topic ADHD Aging Alcohol use disorder Allergies Alternative medicine Alzheimer's disease Arthritis Asthma Babies Backs Bladder Bones Brain Breast cancer Cancer Cancer prevention Caregiving Cervical cancer Children and parenting Cholesterol Colds Colorectal cancer Coronavirus Dental care Depression Diabetes Disaster preparedness Down syndrome Ears Eating disorders Emergencies End of life/Palliative care Environmental health Epilepsy Eyes Fall prevention Family and relationships Feet Fitness and exercise Flu Food safety Hair Headache Health assessments Health calculators Healthcare Heart attack Heart health Hepatitis Hernia High blood pressure Hips HIV/AIDS Holiday health Hormones Imaging Incontinence Joints Kidneys Knees Leukemia Liver Lung cancer Lungs Medications Men's health Menopause Mental health Multiple sclerosis Nails Nose Nutrition Obesity Oral cancer Ovaries Pain Parkinson's disease Pets Pneumonia Pregnancy Prostate cancer Rehabilitation Reproductive health Safety School health Sexuality Sexually transmitted infections Skin Skin cancer Sleep Smoking Sports injuries Stomach pain Stress and anxiety Stroke Substance use disorder Summer safety Surgery Teen health Throat Thyroid Travel Vaccines Vascular health Violence Vitamins and supplements Weight management Winter health Women's health Workplace health Wound care RSS If you have questions or comments, please contact Randolph Health. Problems reading or opening a page? Legal restrictions and terms of use applicable to this site.