Austin fire chief narrowly escapes electric fire from holiday lights
AUSTIN, Texas - An Austin Fire Battalion Chief had a close call last week after he narrowly escaped an electrical fire from the holiday lights he put up on his family’s home.
The Austin Fire Department now wants to remind others how to be safe while being festive this holiday season. "It could happen to anybody," said Eddie Martinez, AFD Shift Commander.
Electrical fires are unfortunately very common during the holiday season. One of the main causes is indoor and outdoor Christmas lights and decorations.
"It did happen to one of our battalion chiefs. Luckily, there wasn't a lot of damage to what happened, but we make several calls involving Christmas decorations every year," said Martienz.
An Austin Fire Battalion Chief narrowly escaped an electrical fire after he came home with his family from Thanksgiving and saw some of his self-timing outdoor lights were off. When he went to adjust the settings, he noticed a familiar smell of an electrical fire and quickly unplugged the lights from the main outlet.
Martinez says always unplug from the main source. "Go to the actual wall plug and unplug it. If you can't get to the wall plug behind the Christmas tree in your home, go to the breaker box and turn it off," he said.
The AFD Battalion Chief noticed the outside of the timer looked fine, but inside was destroyed and produced a ton of heat that could have resulted in an electrical fire. The best move he did was unplugging the cord from the source because any other way could have been dangerous.
"Main hazard of you getting involved if something's on fire is getting overcome by the smoke. The second hazard would be where you're reaching, if it was an electrical break or something like that you can electrocute yourself," said Martinez.
Martinez says look over your decorations frequently. By doing this, you'll be able to catch the issue before it becomes a bigger problem if the lights are acting up. Also, it is important to know that electrical fires have a distinct smell and lights or equipment producing extra heat is not normal.
Martinez says do not be afraid to use lights or self-timers just be aware.
"I think it's okay to use them, as long as everything looks well, and it looks like it's working accordingly. Definitely test it and make sure that it is coming on and off if you plug one in, and if it doesn't work, obviously replace it," he said.
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