Facts

Hospital emergency rooms treat about 7,500 people each year for injuries related to holiday decorations. Christmas trees alone reportedly cause about 400 fires each year, resulting in 10 deaths, 80 injuries and more than $15-million in property damage.

Tips

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends the following holiday safety tips:

• Look for a "fire resistant" label on artificial trees.

• When purchasing live trees, check for freshness. A tree is fresh if it is green and its needles do not break easily.

• Set up trees away from fireplaces and radiators, and make sure they don't block doorways. Keep the stands of live trees filled with water. Trees dry out rapidly in heated rooms.

• Only use decorative lights that have been tested for safety by a recognized testing laboratory (such as Underwriters Laboratories- UL).

• Check lights for broken or cracked sockets, frayed or bare wires, or loose connections. Discard damaged lights.

• Don't use more than three standard-size sets of lights per each extension cord.

• Never use electric lights on a metallic tree.

• Fasten outdoor lights securely to trees, walls, or other supports to prevent wind damage. Use only insulated staples, not nails or tacks.

• Turn off all holiday lights when no one is home.

• For extra electric shock protection, plug outdoor lights and decorations into circuits protected by ground fault circuit interrupters.

• Use only non-combustible or flame-resistant materials to trim your tree. Choose tinsel of plastic or nonleaded material.

• Don't use lighted candles on your tree. Don't use decorations that are sharp or breakable.

• Wear gloves to avoid skin irritation when decorating with "angel hair."

• Be cautious with "fire salts" which produce colored flames when thrown on wood fires. They can cause stomach problems if eaten.

• Do not burn wrapping paper in the fireplace.