St. Catharines Fire Services launches 12 Days of Holiday Fire Safety campaign

St. Catharines Fire Services is reminding residents and property owners to stay fire and carbon monoxide safe as the holiday season and celebrations kick into high gear.

Tomorrow, Fire Services will kick off promotion of the Ontario Fire Marshal’s 12 Days of Holiday Safety campaign, which provides essential safety tips to navigate the holidays and fire risks associated with the season. The 12 Days of Holiday Fire Safety campaign runs from Dec. 12 through Dec. 23.

“Most fatal fires occur during the holiday season,” St. Catharines Fire Chief Dave Upper said. “Protect yourself and your loved ones and ensure your have working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms in your home, test them monthly, replace the batteries, and practice your home escape plan. Most fatal residential fires did not have working smoke alarms.”

Chief Upper further encouraged residents and property owners to follow St. Catharines Fire Services’ 12 Days of Holiday Fire Safety campaign for tips to stay safe and avoid other common causes of home fires, including unattended cooking, space heaters, and careless smoking.

From lighting candles and plugging in festive lights, to cooking and baking in a busy house, to the use of space heaters, wood stoves, and fireplaces, there are many fire risks associated with the holidays.

With that in mind, each day of the campaign, Fire Services will share a different fire safety tip via the services’ X account (formerly Twitter) each day, as will the City on its X, Facebook, and Instagram accounts to mitigate fire and carbon monoxide risks over the holidays. Links to these and the City’s other social media accounts can all be found at www.stcatharines.ca/socialmedia.

Residents and property owners can help ensure a fire-safe holiday by:

• Watering real Christmas trees daily
• Staying in the kitchen while cooking
• Smoking outside
• Installing and testing smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
• Practising their home fire escape plan with all guests and family members

The entire 12-day list of safety tips can be found at stcatharines.ca/HolidaySafety.