Christmas trees, holiday decorations, and festive meals—hallmarks of the holiday season—present potential fire hazards that collectively contribute to an increase in U.S. home fires each December. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Christmas Day and Christmas Eve were the second- and third-leading days of the year for home cooking fires, respectively, in 2022.
“When people are busy and trying to do many things at once, they’re more likely to get distracted from what’s on the stove or in the oven. Knowing that unattended cooking is the leading cause of home cooking fires yearround, it’s easy to see why the number of cooking fires spikes on these days,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA vice president of Outreach and Advocacy.
Candles and Lighting: Decorating homes with electrical lighting and candles also contributes to a higher fire risk during the holiday season. Between 2018 and 2022, U.S. fire departments responded to an annual average of 835 home structure fires that began with decorations (excluding Christmas trees).Year-round, approximately one-third (32 percent) of home decoration fires were started by candles; in December, that number jumped to almost half (46 percent).
