Keep Yourself Safe this Holiday Season

My kids still shake their heads (smh, in their text-language) and wonder if I'm serious when I tell them, that as a kid, my grandparents had actual lit candles on their Christmas tree.

It's true. I'm sure some of you recall folks "back in the day" who did the same thing. Now, to be fair, the candles weren't going 24/7, and they were only lit when people were in the room. However, as fair as I want to be, I know it was a bad idea. I think in today's world, most people would never even consider it, thanks to the decades of excellent fire-safety tips and instruction by America's fire departments and firefighters. My grandmother finally gave it up after growing weary of the constant haranguing from 7 year old me.

We're not putting lit candles on Christmas trees anymore, but there are a few things we continue to do wrong, resulting in an estimated 200 house fires per season involving the tree itself, with the result being over a dozen deaths, multiple injuries, and millions of dollars in property damage (source: Consumer Product Safety Commission)

I could hit you with a bunch of other dry stats and such, but why bother when we have a brand-new Dan Doofus cartoon from our friends at the National Fire Protection Association?