Officials: Holiday decorations, heaters up fire risk

Outdoor light displays. Decorations with candles. Beautifully adorned real Christmas trees. Cooking delectable treats.

All are traditional signs of the season.

And all are dangers lurking in the shadows.

The holiday season – and winter in general – bring an increased risk for fire.

Utica Fire Chief Russell Brooks said there are more structure fires during the winter months.

“Some of the most horrific fires that I ever responded to were around Christmas or on Christmas,” Brooks said. “There’s so many sources of ignition this time of year.”

Residential structure fires peak during the winter – with the highest percentage taking place in December and January, according to a September 2011 report by the U.S. Fire Administration. On Christmas Day 2010, there were two structure fires in Oneida County.

Fires during the holidays also result in a greater financial loss, more injuries and more deaths than the average fire, and it gets even worse when the fires involve Christmas trees or decorations, according to a 2005 study by the administration.

Holiday fires each year result in 400 deaths, 1,600 injuries and more than $990 million in damage, the administration found.

Mark Kohlbrenner, deputy chief for the Rome Fire Department, said he notices a slight increase in structure fires during the holidays.

“And there’s a lot of factors with that,” he said.

Kohlbrenner mentioned dried-out Christmas trees, unattended candles and overloaded extension cords and circuits as some of the holiday-related causes.

Other causes include cooking, furnaces, fireplaces and space heaters, said David Jacobowitz, president of the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York.

Jacobowitz, who served as the Whitesboro fire chief for 20 years, said he urges people to make sure they have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and to not get overly caught up in the rush of the season.

“Consider what could happen if an accident would occur,” he said.