PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria Fire Department is decorating for the holidays, but the meaning goes farther than that.
Each fire station has a wreath outside it, with 25 red light bulbs. Every time there’s a fire, one of the bulbs will become white.
It’s part of an effort called “Keep the Wreath Red.”
“The Peoria Fire Department wholly believes in this campaign, as an effort to prevent fires during the holiday season,” said Nate Rice, Division Chief of Fire Prevention, Peoria Fire Department.
Rice says in December of last year, eighteen fires – one of which was to a commercial structure – did an estimated $1.5 million in damage.
“During the holiday season, during colder weather, there’s probably two things that we see more than anything: one is extension cords, and two is space heaters. Those are probably two of the biggest dangers, and what we see in accidental fires. That’s probably the leading cause,” said Rice.
Rice refers to space heaters being put too close to other objects that catch fire, and extension cords that are overloaded, in uses they’re not rated for, and that are connected to other extension cords. Outlet strips can cause many of the same problems, says Rice.
He also suggests always paying attention to cooking as unattended cooking can cause roughly half of all the fire department’s responses year-round. Also recommended is watering natural Christmas trees, so they don’t dry out, and related, making sure there aren’t any problems with light strands or decorations. Rice also urges blowing out any candles when you leave a room or house.
