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Unplug Christmas Lights #majormanfail

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Holiday Lights Can Catch Fire
​Don’t forget to unplug your Christmas lights!   Here’s what happend to one of our customers. 
The husband put up a beautiful display of oudoor Christmas lights, including several lit up reindeer on the lawn.    Wife says “Honey, please be sure to uplug the outdoor lights before you go to bed. ”   Husband agrees and continues working on his project.   Husband gets tired and goes to bed.   That night the wind was especially strong.  Husband woke up around 3am and smelled smoke.   He jumped out of bed to see what was going on, only to find the front of the house on fire.  He called 911 and immediately got everyone out of the house safely.   
Guess what caused the fire?  The fire department traced the fire back to a faulty plug that powered the reindeer lights.   The strong winds knocked over the reindeer and the cord  unplugged from the outlet, causing sparks to fly which caught the reindeer on fire which caught the house on fire.  (Yes, the exact plug he was asked to unplug earlier that evening. #majormanfail)


Moral to the story:  Always do what your wife tells you to do  (just kidding).  Aways be sure the cords to your lights are not frayed or faulty and unplug them at night. 

Even if you already put up Christmas lights, it wouldn’t hurt to take a second look.  Follow these safety tips from Sage Restoration and a local electrician.  Home fires  during the holiday season are avoidable as long as you don’t make a couple of mistakes.

  • Don’t overload a circuit by stringing too many lights together.  Do not plug more than three strands of lights in a row,
  • Make sure you are using the properly rated extension cord.
  • “You can buy a five dollar cord but that’s what you’re going to get, five dollars worth of electricity which isn’t good.  “Spend a little extra money and get a nice decent thick cord. Not your standard 18 or 20 gauge or 16 gauge cord. Get a 14 or 12 gauge heavy duty cord.”
  • Avoid plugging too many cords into one outlet because it creates heat which can cause a fire to break out.
  • Local firefighters are asking you to double check your cords for things like exposed wires and fraying.
  • Make sure you’re using the right type of lights for where you’re decorating.  There’s a big difference between indoor and out door lights.
  • “With indoor lights outside, some of them don’t have the protective coating  where snow or rain could get into it and cause a short then cause a fire from there,” explained a local firefighter.

Sage Restoration hopes you have a safe Holiday Season.  If you or your friends ever need help cleaning up from an unfortunate fire or water catastrophe, please call Sage at 913 905 0500.   We are a Kansas City locally owned women’s business and take great pride in restoring your property.  

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