My name is Kevin McCusker and I’m a station manager in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) responsible for the Fire Safety Enforcement and Engagement team in the city of Edinburgh. Since the awful tragedy of Grenfell the SFRS has been working to reassure tenants of high rise buildings throughout Scotland. With this in mind; I thought it would be a good opportunity to highlight some of the seasonal risks that you should consider as we near the festive period.

I’ll set the scene: Decisions, decisions real or imitation, for those buying a real Christmas tree remember these dry out and should be checked regularly, make sure the lights on the tree are CE approved (CE stands for the compliance of manufacturers to meet the product safety requirements of the relevant EU legislation) and have the correctly rated fuse, where they are plugged into extension cables again make sure they are correctly fused and rated and never interlinked.

So the decorations are up, presents are wrapped, you light some candles which you have placed on a suitable holder away from the curtains and pour yourself a well-deserved drink, do you know that even a moderate amount of alcohol increases your risk of fire, add to that smoking and or cooking under the influence and it is increased even more.

Off to bed, ask yourself are the candles out, fairy lights off and think, when did I last check my smoke alarm, what smoke alarm you answer…

These are only a few things I have highlighted however there are other areas that should be considered, such as the use of electric blankets and portable heaters.

For more information go to www.firescotland.gov.uk or better still call 0800 0731 999 or text ‘FIRE’ to 80800 and arrange a free Home Safety Visit.

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