Keep warm and stay safe this Christmas

As night falls on Christmas Eve, temperatures continue to drop and festive lights click on.

This combination can cause quite a threat inside a home.

With gathering families and falling temperatures... firefighters say its important to keep fire from turning a happy holiday into a christmas tragedy.

Wtva's rhea thornton says following a few tips can keep you and your family safe.

As night falls on christmas eve... temperatures continue to drop and festive lights click on.

This combination causes quite a threat inside your home.

As temperatures dip to below freezing, many people will turn on space heaters to keep themselves warm.

Know to stay safe, always give your heater space... and never use a power strip or extension cord to plug in a heater.

Brian arnett is the lieutenant at the starkville fire station two.

He added that extension cords should be monitored often to ensure the cord does not heat up against a flammable fabric like rugs or carpet.

Along with extension cords, if families put up a natural tree, be sure to frequently water the tree.

However, he said one of the biggest things to keep in mind is turning off your christmas lights... and making sure those lights are safe to have hung.

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Brian arnett - lieutenant at starkville fire station two: "if you keep your, you know, your lights stored in the attic, when you get those down, you need to actually look at that cord and make sure that there are no cuts in it because if that insulation jacket is cut you're passing heat up and down that line and so it becomes a liability there.

Arnett also mentioned that when cooking, it is important to always stay calm if something goes wrong... and remember if you do run into a problem, turn the heat off first and use baking soda or flour to put out the fire.

Live in starkville, rhea thornton wtva 9 news.

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