AS PART of its fire prevention campaign, the Bureau of Fire Protection in Davao Region reminded the public to observe fire safety especially when buying Christmas lights this coming yuletide season.
Senior Fire Officer 2 (SFO2) Ramil Gillado, officer-in-charge of the Intelligence and Investigation Section of BFP-Davao Region, warned the public on the dangers of purchasing substandard Christmas lights.
“Let us welcome and celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve happy and bright by making fire safety a priority during this festive season.
Christmas trees, dangling seasonal Christmas lights can often be hazardous if not properly put up with care- or if it's placed next toa potentially dangerous items,” Gillado said.
Gillado enumerated safety tips to keep the holidays safe and fire-free. He underscored that people must ensure that the products they are using have passed the safety and quality standards inspection of authorities to avoid defective Christmas lights.
When buying Christmas lights, people must ensure that it has PS mark for locally produced lights and Import Commodity Clearance (ICC) mark for imported sets of lights. They must inspect lights first before plugging it and carefully check each set of lights for signs of socket damage, frayed or scorched wire, loose connections or damaged plugs.
“Do not overload electrical outlets. Too many plugs in one outlet may create enough heat to start a fire. Turn off all lights and decorations before leaving the house or going to bed,” he added.
Use heavy-duty, quality extension cords for fire safety and to never run extension cords under rugs, carpet or in areas where they pose a tripping hazard.
Likewise, for safety in the kitchen, never leave cooking unattended.
In December 2017, alone, they recorded 26 fire incidents. However, none of these involved Christmas lights.
The last incident they recorded was in 2013. From 2014 up to 2017, they recorded zero Christmas-light related fire incident.
He said this is somewhat an indication that people are educated on the adverse impact of buying low quality lights.