Nothing spreads cheer quite like holiday decorations, but care must be used to ensure your festive winter décor is fire-safe. Candles are widely used in homes throughout the holidays, which means December is the peak month for home candle fires. One-third (33%) of home decoration fires are started by candles. If you’re decorating with candles this holiday season, consider using the battery-operated ... (Full Story & Photos)

The following products were recently recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC):

1) Product: Indigo branded Papa Bear and Mama Bear Mugs

Hazard: The recalled mugs can crack or break when filled with hot liquid, posing burn and laceration hazards.

For more information visit: https://tinyurl.com/2fm9wdxp
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2) ... (Full Story & Photos)

Ridge VFD members, along with members of the Ridge VRS and NDWFD Co. 14, gathered last evening for our November drill; Understanding Autism and Other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities - First Responder Training. Mr. Neal Lichter, Program Director at Pathfinders for Autism, came to the firehouse to present on the topic.

The presentation focused specifically on helping first responders: ... (Full Story & Photos)

On Thanksgiving Day, many families customarily spend the holiday inside their home or at the home of a friend or family member with the family dinner being the highlight of the day. Thanksgiving is the leading day for home fires involving cooking equipment, at three times the average number per day.

• An estimated 2,000 Thanksgiving Day fires in residential buildings are reported to U.S. fire departments ... (Full Story & Photos)

Heating equipment is a leading cause of fires in U.S. homes. Local fire departments responded to an estimated average of 48,530 fires involving heating equipment each year in 2014-2018. These fires resulted in annual losses of 500 deaths, 1,350 injuries, and $1.1 billion in direct property damage. The leading factor contributing to home heating fires was failure to clean, principally from solid-fueled ... (Full Story & Photos)

Electricity helps make our lives easier but there are times when we can take its power and its potential for fire-related hazards for granted. Lighting to improve the look and safety of our homes, electric tools to make our outdoor work easier, and power lines to our home, all need to be handled with care. When working with, and using, electricity, we need to be cautious and keep safety in mind.

According ... (Full Story & Photos)

Every six months, as Daylight Saving Time begins and ends, you hear from firefighters, “When you change your clock, check your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms.” It is more than a slogan – and firefighters see it often – smoke alarms save lives. Working smoke detectors alert you more quickly in the event of a fire and provide you and your loved ones more time to escape safely.

This weekend, ... (Full Story & Photos)

The following products were recently recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC):

1) Product: AQUALUNG Apeks Exotec SCUBA Diving Buoyancy Compensator Devices (BCDs)

Hazard: The dump valve knob can get stuck when the recalled BCD is inflated, opening the dump valve which stops the BCD from fully inflating. This can result in a loss of buoyancy control and poses injury (decompression ... (Full Story & Photos)