It's Halloween season! Decorate Safely... and Enjoy!

10/5/2022 (Permalink)

Decorate safely for Halloween!

It’s that time of the year again! Halloween! That time of year where anything goes. Being professionals in the fire and water restoration business, Halloween mishaps are far too familiar for us. Did you know that an estimated of nearly 10,000 fires were reported to fire departments in the United States over a 3-day period for each year from 2017-2019? With interior and exterior decorations involving lights, music, projectors—the list goes on and on--- it is important that we take measured safety precautions to keep from being part of the growing statistic.

Avoid extension cords for your interior Halloween decorations. It is always a good practice to inspect your extension cords prior to decorating for the holidays. Just like anything else, it is quite natural that your equipment, decorations, and extension cords deteriorate over time. It is best if you avoid extension cords inside your home when decorating for Halloween altogether. Rather, as a safety precaution, stage your décor so that your electrical decorations are within reach to the electrical outlet. Extension cords running through the house, especially in high traffic areas of the home are a sure-fire (no pun intended) way to have a fiery, Halloween mishap!

Don’t be Clark Griswold for Halloween. Well, if you can find a “Clark Griswold” costume, that would be killer. Just avoid decorating like him! You may think stringing lights on the exterior parts of your home is a “Christmas thing.” Not entirely. Every neighborhood has the one Griswold-type who wants to outdo the others when it comes to their exterior décor! If you insist that you must have your house strung with lights, it is wise to avoid nailing (or stapling) electrical cables to your home, as the clips are literally electrical conductors. Each of these cables are insulated with jackets designed by manufacturing engineers to protect consumers against electric shocks and electrical fires. Driving a nail through the cord should be avoided at all costs.

There’s a safe way to light your jack-o’-lantern. An open flame candle inside of a hollow pumpkin, unattended on your front porch is not it! A simple wag of a dog’s tail in anticipation of being let back in the front door is enough to knock your jack-o’-lantern into the beautiful, freshly laid pine straw nestled around your front shrubbery. Or even more common—what would normally be an unnoticed whisk of wind can be just enough to cause a disaster, especially with it being next to that dried cornstalk your wife picked up from the department store. Instead, opt for battery-operated LED lights or even a glow-stick would suffice.