by Skyler Wolf Jones

Created on: December 12, 2008   Last Updated: December 18, 2008

Imagine the sobering reality of a holiday season that ends in tragedy because a fire exit wasn't properly clear. Sounds silly at first, "oh, I can't push through a little decoration to get out in an emergency." Picture this, there are 15 people pushing their way through the bottle neck of one fire exit. A decoration happens to get lodged between someone's legs causing them to fall to the ground. Because the rest of the people trying to rapidly escape don't see the person on the ground, they continue to keep pushing to get through causing more people to fall and block the exit. This is how a ripple effect can be life threatening all by the simplest of decorations by a fire exit. True, the everyday person isn't going to have a need for a fire exit, let alone use one. However, what if you are the one that does. This article might not save a thousand lives; it may not even save one hundred. But if it saves one, and that one is you, don't you think it is worth reading?

Don't let this damper your seasonal spirit, let it be the spark that gets you excited about decorating and doing so with safety in mind.

Before even starting to decorate, properly locate where a fire exit exists. If you are in a building, a home, an apartment, etc. Where are the escape routes you will need to avoid when planning out your decorations? Sometimes when you think about fire exits you only think about the actual exit, but remember there will need to be a clear path to that exit as well. Now that you have managed to clearly mark areas where not to decorate, begin the fun!

A couple years ago in an office I worked in, my co-workers and I thought it would be fun to clearly mark the fire exits, since our company was big on fire drills. We lined the cubicles with red ribbons that led to a fire exit so in case of an emergency people could actually follow our decorations to safety. The ribbons were secured properly to assure they would not fall off and cause someone to slip. We also secured lights over the fire exit door, again making sure they were fastened securely. All the other decorations for our department we made sure were more toward the center of the room, especially the larger decorations such as a Christmas tree and empty box presents that were on the ground around the tree. Our office looked dressed for the season, and we maintained a safe working environment in the process.

In our house we are always cautious to avoid putting anything flammable next to the fireplace or mantle. It's one thing to have decorations in your way in case of a fire, but it's a whole other thing to have the fire caused by your decorations. In helping keep our own fire exits clear in our house we have all of our lights stuck onto the windows by small little suctions cups. This way if we need to use our windows as fire exits, the lights will pop off quickly. Taping up your lights can cause a problem as the tape might catch on to something else and create an unsafe situation. Emergencies are all about time, the quicker you can respond to the situation, the better chance there is for safety.

If you come up with great ideas that are both festive and safe, share them with your family and friends as I have shared a few with you today. Together we can spread the word about keeping fire exits clear during the holiday season to prevent someone's holiday ending in tragedy.

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