Winter months bring an uptick in house fires, how to keep your home safe

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Putting up holiday decorations can be a fun tradition, but if you're not careful, things could go up in flames.

"They look so nice. They look so pretty, but really there’s a huge danger lurking in your living room that you don’t always think about," said Andrea Carlson with The Red Cross.

The Red Cross says the number of holiday house fires increases year after year and they don't think that will change this year.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department told KRDO they respond to more fires in the winter months because of decorations, candles, and more people being home.

"Space heaters, you name it, it kind of compounds within these winter months," said Sunny Smaldino with the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

CSFD and The Red Cross provided some tips to keep your home safe.

For real trees, officials say make sure the lights are turned off at night and that you're continually watering it.

"You have to water it every day. It is so dry right now and it’s always dry here in Colorado, but you have to make sure that the dog isn’t drinking out the water. We’ve seen that a lot, it just goes dead really fast," said Smaldino.

According to The Red Cross, candles cause the most fires. In the U.S., there are roughly 20 house fires per day caused by a candle.

The Red Cross recommends leaving candles in a safe place, don't put anything around them, and suggests using electric candles instead.

"I think because of COVID and more people being at home you just have more stuff that can potentially happen during the day when people we’re typically going to work and not home as frequently," said Carlson.

For more information on how to stay safe during the holidays, click here.