Suffolk Fire Service urges households to celebrate the festive season safely
People are being urged to get rid of clutter, avoid overloading sockets and make sure smoke alarms are fitted and working
With just a few sleeps left until the big day, households across Suffolk are being urged to celebrate safely.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service are urging people to avoid overloading sockets with Christmas decorations, get rid of any clutter and wrapping paper - and make sure that smoke alarms are fitted, and working.
Lee Wilkins from Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service says without knowing it, even our Christmas trees could be a fire hazard:" Be mindful of things that are going to be in your house that aren't normally - so Christmas trees, if you've got a real one, believe it or not - if dry trees are not watered they can become extremely flammable."
"A - keep it watered, and B - whether it's real or artificial, keep it away from ignition sources and be very mindful of the decorations and lights that you're putting on them."
" Artificial trees usually will have a label, so try and make sure that they're flame retardant, and they have some form of standard or British standard marking on them."
"With your Christmas lights, they should have a British standard mark on there, or CE mark. Check them - generally people screw them up and people hate taking them down and they get shoved in the loft in a great big ball - and then we unravel them and put them on the tree. So when you're doing that check for damaged bulbs and damaged wiring."
"Don't overload your sockets, we've got all different bits of lit up Santa figures and all that kind of stuff - be mindful - one plug, one socket. Don't be overloading things, and if anything looks damaged, don't use it."