Carmel firefighter shares tips for displaying holiday lights safely

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) — A Carmel firefighter is making sure your holiday light displays are safe.

Tim Griffin says when it comes to making sure your displays are as safe as possible, it all begins before the lights go up.

Griffin says it’s important to make sure you’re checking your lights when you get them out of storage to make ensure they are all in tact.

In addition, wires can get brittle over time, break, and become exposed. Exposed wires can be a fire hazard.

The same goes for extension cords, Griffin said it’s important to keep from overloading them.

He mentioned the rule of threes, no more than three cords of lights should be connected to an extension cord.

LED is also a better choice of light because it is a lower voltage.

If your cords are blowing fuses, it’s time to get rid of those and get new ones.

He also says while the lights looks great at night, it’s best to unplug them before you go to bed at night.

“I would shut those lights off. That’s something I do even with the dryer, I don’t like to leave with it running because we know those things can happen. I’d rather see someone air on the side of caution than see their holidays end in tragedy,” Griffin said.

He also says if you have a lights on a live tree, make sure you are keeping that tree watered, because those can go up in flames quickly if it were exposed to something like a shorted wire.

As a reminder, he says putting up holiday decorations is a perfect time to check those smoke detectors to make sure they are working properly.