Oncor Encourages Texans to Wrap Up the Holidays Safely
With the holidays over, many Texans are eyeing their holiday
decorations, wondering how long that once fresh tree will last and
trying to come up with a plan of attack for putting things away.
Oncor’s Lifetime of Safety campaign has three things to remember when
tackling trees and holiday décor cleanup:
1. Electric light strands should not be used on holiday trees that have
been cut for longer than two weeks or are looking dry (needles are no
longer green and/or are falling easily to the ground) to decrease the
chance for fire. A dried out tree coupled with a faulty light strand
could easily catch fire. While holiday tree fires are rare, the National
Fire Protection Association states that one in every 15 reported involve
a death.
2. When you finally do decide to take down and put up the holiday
decorations, get a head start on next year by performing a safety check.
Make sure that there are not any cracks, frays or exposed wire on any
electrical cords. If any damage is found, these items should be replaced
or thrown away.
All of us are currently concerned with making every dollar count.
Keeping around damaged electrical products is not a safe way to do that.
Instead, replace damaged holiday lights with energy-efficient LED
lights, which last much longer and use less energy.
3. Be careful when taking down holiday lights and decorations from roofs
and while using ladders. Always make sure to have a spotter with you and
always check for overhead power lines when walking with or standing on
ladders. Touching an overhead power line with your body or an object
that you are touching or holding can result in an electric shock that
could result in injury or even death.
For more electric safety tips from the Lifetime of Safety program, visit www.oncor.com/safety.
Oncor is a regulated electric distribution and transmission business
that uses superior asset management skills to provide reliable
electricity delivery to consumers. Oncor operates the largest
distribution and transmission system in Texas, providing power to 3
million electric delivery points over more than 102,000 miles of
distribution and 14,000 miles of transmission lines. While Oncor is
owned by a limited number of investors (including majority owner, Energy
Future Holdings Corp.), Oncor is managed by its Board of Directors,
which is comprised of a majority of independent directors.
Oncor Communications
Megan Wright, 972-791-6200
