|
JEA Urges Customers to Put Safety First This Holiday Season
Jacksonville, Fla. (December 18, 2006) – Displaying holiday lights and decorations is an American tradition, but without the proper safety precautions, what is typically known as the most joyous season of the year can also become one of the most hazardous.
During the winter holidays each year, hospital emergency rooms treat about 8,700 people for injuries from falls, decorations used improperly, and Christmas tree fires and shocks attributed to holiday lights plugged into overloaded. In fact, the National Fire Protection Association reports that Christmas tree fires cause an average of 14 deaths, 40 injuries and $16.2 million in direct property damage per year.
JEA offers the following safety tips to help ensure a safe and happy holiday season:
- Never use nails or staples to secure light strings or electrical cords.
- Do not overload extension cords and electrical outlets or connect more than three strings of lights together.
- Remove dead tree limbs near power lines and clear any storm debris that may pose a fire hazard to outside lightings and decorations. NEVER trim tree limbs that are touching power lines. If a damaged limb is resting on a power line, contact JEA at (904) 665-6000.
- Inspect decorations before plugging in, checking for frayed or loose wires and loose connections.
- Keep fresh-cut trees away from heat sources, such as heat registers, fireplaces, radiators and televisions.
- Turn off holiday lights while you are away from home or before going to bed at night. Consider adding a programmable timer to ensure lights are not accidentally left on.
- Unplug strings of lights before replacing bulbs and replace burned-out bulbs promptly with ones of the same wattage.
- Use only decorations and extension cords certified for outdoor use when placing lights or decorations outdoors.
- Remove any storm-damaged limbs before placing lights or decorations on outdoor trees. Weak limbs can suddenly fall, causing damage to electric cords and bulbs.
- Plug all outdoor electric decorations into circuits with ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) to avoid potential shocks.
- Do not string lights on trees that are near or touching power lines.
- Point sockets down on outside lights to avoid moisture build-up – wrap a plastic bag around connections and tie ends with electrical tape.
- Never use electric lights on a metallic tree. Faulty bulbs could make the tree become charged with electricity.
JEA is the eighth largest community owned electric utility in the United States, providing electric, water and sewer service to more than 875,000 accounts in northeast Florida.
|
