Celebrating, Christmas, Birthdays and Religious Festivals
When you’re enjoying yourself with family and friends, the
possibility of a fire is the last thing on your mind. But lots of
guests,decorations and people smoking all add to the risk. If you know what these risks are and plan ahead, you can all have fun
and peace of mind.
Parties
- If you have guests staying the night, make sure they know how to escape safely.
- Keep all escape routes clear.
- Let guests know about any features they may not be familiar with (for example, how to open the front door and where the door keys are kept).
- Take particular care of elderly people, children, or people with disabilities.
- If your guests smoke, put out plenty of ashtrays and empty them regularly (so butts don’t get dropped
in wastepaper bins or other places where firs could start)
Religious and Cultural Festivals
- For many people, cultural and religious festivals are an enormously important part of life, but during celebrations it’s easy to get distracted and be less aware of the risk of fire.
Decorative lights
- Fairy lights, Christmas tree lights and so on don’t get used often and so need more care.
- Check that the fuse in the plug is the right size (see the box for the maximum size
of fuse you should use).
- Replace bulbs that blow.
- Don’t leave lights on when you go to bed or leave the house.
- Don’t let the bulbs touch anything that can burn easily, such as paper or fabrics.
Decorations
Decorations made of tissue paper or cardboard burn easily.
Keep decorations and greeting cards away from heaters, lights, fireplaces and Candles.