A lot of people are decorating for the holidays, both indoors and outdoors.
Firefighters warn there are hidden dangers if you're not careful.
They say the most common things they respond to around the holidays are unattended cooking, Christmas lights being improperly used, and unattended open flames, like candles.
John Beck, Fire Marshal at the Reno Fire Department, says, "These hidden dangers come in the form of a cat or a pet that knocks the candle over when we're out of the room, and before we know it, we have a fire that takes place."
On that note, you'll want to be sure to stay aware of candles that you light, never leave an open flame unattended, and make sure that if you are using a fireplace, it's cleaned out. That includes the chimney itself.
They also recommend using LED Christmas lights to avoid your lights catching on fire.
Christmas trees can also be a pretty big risk if you're not on top of watering them.
Beck says, "We want to make sure we're looking at our Christmas trees and what we're placing on our trees is going to be compatible with the tree and not produce an undue amount of heat."
Firefighters warn to be careful with incandescent lights, since they can run very hot.
As for other decorations, first responders ask people to keep things that are meant for outdoor use outside and those meant to be indoors inside.
If you have a lot of decorations to plug in, you'll want to be mindful of the extension cord usage and not run your extension cord underneath a door, so it doesn't get damaged or pinched and cause more problems.
Beck explains, "We're not telling the public to not use extension cords, but we really want to be careful of the extension cords because it's not always clear exactly what they're capable of if we overload them, so we really want to minimize our use of extension cords."
Also, be mindful when you're cooking your holiday feast in the kitchen. Too many people in the kitchen or distractions could lead to a catastrophe.
Beck says, "There's a large number of bodies in our houses when everyone comes to visit, so things can get very, very tight in the kitchen, so we just want to be careful and mindful of these hidden dangers that we're not really paying attention to, but we want to be extra mindful during the holiday season."
If you're hanging up decorations, make sure you are not covering up your address, just in case you do need help. First responders need to be able to see your address to know where you are.
