Kilkenny Fire and Rescue Service is appealing to locals who received electrical gifts this Christmas to use them safely.
Electric sockets often pose a danger in homes at this time of year, as they become overloaded with Christmas lights, along with the new phones and toys that Santa brings.
Firefighter Corabh Wise is with Kilkenny City Fire Station.
He’s advising people not to leave electrics plugged in or to let them overheat;
“Over Christmas a lot of kids are all getting iPhones, so watch out for how good the chargers on those are. There’s all the electrical equipment in kids’ bedrooms- televisions, iPods, playstations” he explains. “Then there are young girls and women with hair straighteners that could be left on in their room. So make sure that they’re left to cool after being used, especially hair curlers and all that kind of stuff. Make sure they’re turned off and not left on a duvet or something when you’re in a rush out of the room”
“If you can, use just one plug in each socket, or one socket for each set of lights. If you have to use an adapter, make sure you use a peg board adapter, and that it’s fitted with the correct fuse. That fuse will act as a safety device- if you overload the sockets, the fuse will blow and that will cut the electricity off.”
