Holiday fire safety: What to know before putting up your lights

With Thanksgiving in the rear-view window, those celebrating this holiday season are getting ready to put up their Christmas decorations.

However, with increasing residential fires in the month of December, local fire departments want residents to know these key safety guidelines before hanging up their lights.

Candle-burning, cooking, faulty electrical wiring and dry Christmas trees are just some of the signs firefighters want residents to look out for.

Captain Chris Deitz with the Cathedral City Fire Department says another preventative measure is to switch from incandescent to LED lights, a safer and more energy-efficient option.

Deitz says unlike incandescent lights which have individual wiring in each bulb and give off energy as heat, LEDs bulbs disperse energy as light.

For more information on fire safety tips this holiday season, visit: https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/home-fire-safety/winter-holidays