Stay Safe This December

As we enter December, the Sunshine Fire Protection District extends our warmest wishes to you and your families. While this is a season of celebration, it also presents specific safety challenges. We ask that you keep the following three priorities in mind to ensure a safe month for our community.

1. Heating and Carbon Monoxide Heating equipment is a leading cause of home fires during December. Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, including furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves, and portable space heaters. Additionally, ensure your Smoke and Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors are functioning. CO is odorless and invisible; a working detector is your only defense.

Keep Your Christmas Tree Fresh!

2. Holiday Decoration Safety If you have a live Christmas tree, water it daily. A dry tree can catch fire and spread flames throughout a room in seconds. Always turn off holiday lights before leaving home or going to sleep, and never overload electrical outlets. If you don’t know or suspect that your intended light display may exceed your outlet’s capacity, hire an Electrician who can test your home’s electrical system and make recommendations on how to improve its stability. As a three-year-old, a certain someone lit up the neighbor’s first floor by moving a lit candle that was on a dry tree. Don’t enable that kid. 

3. Emergency Access and Snow Removal Winter weather can slow down emergency response times. You can help us reach you faster by:

• Clearing snow and ice from your driveway and walkways.

• Don’t park your car at the top or bottom of your driveway if that means that you are blocking access to a fire truck or an ambulance. If you don’t know and want clarification, contact chief@sunshine-fpd.org for a site visit. 

• Ensuring your house number is visible from the road and not covered by snow. Especially in the winter time, driving by and missing your driveway can cause a delay of several minutes before an engine or ambulance can be safely turned around. Help us get there. 

• Shoveling a clear zone around cisterns near your property. Whatever you can do around that area in front of the cistern, is a big help. If pipes and caps are frozen, our setup is delayed. 

We are proud to serve the Sunshine and Boulder community. Stay safe and warm this season.