FULLERTON : Officials Offer Fire Safety Tips

City firefighters are reminding residents to take precautions during this holiday season to avoid fire emergencies.

“The holidays can be one of the loveliest times of the year, yet too often the holidays become ugly and grim when someone forgets to take a few extra minutes for safety’s sake,” Fire Chief Marc Martin said.

The Fire Department offers the following tips for guarding against fires:

* Don’t set your Christmas tree next to a fireplace.

* Don’t overload extension cords with light strings.

* Don’t rely on a chemical coating or spray to flame-proof trees. “Make sure it is kept away from all possible sources of fire or heat,” Fire Marshal John Clark said.

* Don’t buy a dry tree.

* Check your tree and outdoor lights for frayed wires, loose connections, broken or cracked sockets and exposed wire.

* Don’t burn wrapping paper in fireplaces. Burning embers from the lightweight paper can be carried up the chimney and land on the roof, causing a fire.

“It’s amazing how quickly tragedy can strike when you relax your guard for just an instant,” Martin said. He said that incidents of frayed light cords setting Christmas trees on fire and unattended lit candles causing major fires--and people dying in those incidents--occur year after year “like a broken record.”