{"id":10139,"date":"2018-12-19T17:39:56","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T17:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=10139"},"modified":"2018-12-19T17:39:56","modified_gmt":"2018-12-19T17:39:56","slug":"top-holiday-safety-hazards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/19\/top-holiday-safety-hazards\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Holiday Safety Hazards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nothing puts a damper on\u00a0Christmas cheer like a trip to the ER<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

BY BECKY HUTCHINGS<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"The holiday season is a magical time, but Christmas traditions, decor and celebrations can lead to accidents (or worse) if you\u2019re not careful. Here\u2019s how to keep your family safe and healthy through to the New Year.<\/p>\n

1. Your tree is a fire risk\u2014even if it\u2019s fake. Each holiday season, fire departments respond to an average of 210 Christmas tree fires nationally, reports the National Fire Protection Association\u00a0(NFPA). Keep your tree at least 3 feet away from all heat sources (like fireplaces, radiators and heat vents). If you have a real tree, remember to keep it watered; the drier the tree, the more easily it could ignite. Your stand should have a water reservoir that can hold one quart of water per inch of the stem\u2019s diameter.<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t overdo it on the lights. As much as you may want to cover every inch of your house with twinkle lights, you may have to scale back depending on your outlets. Check the lights\u2019 packaging for the power output and never plug in more than what a power strip or outlet says it can handle. You never want to connect more than three strings of lights in one series.<\/p>\n

4. Never toss anything but logs into your fireplace. Don\u2019t try to burn evergreens or wreaths in a fireplace or woodstove. Greenery and tree needles burn much faster than logs, creating sparks, which can fly into the room or onto the roof. They can also cause a buildup of creosote, a highly flammable compound, in the chimney. And don\u2019t burn wrapping paper, because it can contain metallic materials that could be hazardous to breathe in. Make sure the fire is out and the embers have cooled before you leave the house or go to bed. Put the ashes in a metal bin that\u2019s at least 25 feet away from the house. Have a professional come out at least once a year to inspect the chimney.<\/p>\n

From all of us at the Minidoka Extension Office, I want to wish you all a happy and healthy Christmas!<\/p>\n

Becky Hutchings is the FCS\/4-H Youth Development Extension Educator for the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension in Minidoka County.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nothing puts a damper on\u00a0Christmas cheer like a trip to the ER BY BECKY HUTCHINGS The holiday season is a magical time, but Christmas traditions, decor and celebrations can lead to accidents (or worse) if you\u2019re not careful. Here\u2019s how to keep your family safe and healthy through to the New Year. 1. Your tree […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,38],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-living-well-ui-blaine-extension","7":"category-sponsored"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10139\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}