Winter/holiday safety tips

Winter holidays are a time for families and friends to get together. But that also means a greater risk for fire. Following a few simple tips will ensure a happy and fire-safe holiday season.

Safety tips

Download these NFPA safety tips on holiday decorating and entertaining. (PDF, 962 KB)

Holiday decorating

• Be careful with holiday decorations. Choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant.
• Keep lit candles away from decorations and other things that can burn.
• Use lights that have the label of an independent testing laboratory. Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both.
• Replace any string of lights with worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Connect no more than three strands of mini light sets and a maximum of 50 bulbs for screw-in bulbs.
• Use clips, not nails, to hang lights so the cords do not get damaged.
• Keep decorations away from windows and doors.


Holiday entertaining



• Test your smoke alarms and tell guests about your home fire escape plan.
• Keep children and pets away from lit candles.
• Keep matches and lighters up high in a locked cabinet.
• Stay in the kitchen when cooking on the stovetop.
• Ask smokers to smoke outside. Remind smokers to keep their smoking materials with them so young children do not touch them. 




No smoke alarms or sprinklers found in Middletown home where fire killed 4 people

Star Ledger April 21, 2011

Our community suffered a significant fire loss with the death of four residents in a single family home. Sadly the home did not have working smoke alarms. The Middletown Township Fire Department urges all homeowners to install smoke alarms throughout their homes, test them monthly and replace the batteries yearly. We hope to never repeat this tragedy.



Smoke alarm safety tips




Smoke alarms save lives !

Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

The death rate per 100 reported fires was twice as high in homes without a working smoke alarm as it was in home fires with this protection.

When there is a fire, smoke spreads fast and you need smoke alarms to give you time to get out.

Safety tips that can save your life !

• Download these NFPA safety tips on smoke alarms (PDF, 219 KB).

  Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. Interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
• An ionization smoke alarm is generally more responsive to flaming fires, and a photoelectric smoke alarm is generally more responsive to smoldering fires. For the best protection, both types of alarms or a combination alarm (photoelectric and ionization) should be installed in homes.
• Test alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button.
• Smoke rises; install smoke alarms following manufacturer's instructions high on a wall or on a ceiling. Save manufacturer's instructions for testing and maintenance.
• Replace batteries in all smoke alarms at least once a year. If an alarm “chirps”, warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away.
• Replace all smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and hard-wired alarms, when they are 10 year old or sooner if they do not respond properly.
• Be sure the smoke alarm has the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
• Alarms that are hard-wired (and include battery backup) must be installed by a qualified electrician.
• If cooking fumes or steam sets off nuisance alarms, replace the alarm with an alarm that has a "hush" button. A "hush" button will reduce the alarm’s sensitivity for a short period of time.
• An ionization alarm with a hush button or a photoelectric alarm should be used if the alarm is within 20 feet of a cooking appliance.
• Smoke alarms that include a recordable voice announcement in addition to the usual alarm sound, may be helpful in waking children through the use of a familiar voice.
• Smoke alarms are available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing . These devices use strobe lights. Vibration devices can be added to these alarms
• Smoke alarms are an important part of a home fire escape plan.

More information on home fire safety is available from the National Fire Protection Association www.nfpa.org