In the midst of the holiday season, no one wants it ruined by preventable disasters.

That is why Capt. Jeff Joseph, the Ironton Fire Department’s fire inspector, is telling people some easy ways to prevent a fire in and around their homes. He said the department doesn’t really see a rise in fires around Christmas and they would like to keep it that way.

“Over the years, we have seen incidents of lights shorting out on Christmas trees, outside decorations shorting out on the house,” he said. “There isn’t really an uptick. But we have seen things that caused people problems and caused people to lose their homes.”

Joseph said they have already had people become homeless after their houses caught fire around Thanksgiving.

A house on Third Street caught fire on Thanksgiving Day and then another house fire on Spruce and Ninth streets on Sunday.

“The fire on Third Street involved two houses,” Joseph said. “One house is being remodeled now, those people had to find a different place to live while it’s being fixed. The other house is destroyed. The lady on Spruce Street is living with family until they can figure out what to do with the house. So that’s three and we haven’t even made it a week past Thanksgiving.”

Joseph said many Christmas decoration-related fires are easily preventable and includes things like making sure a real Christmas tree is kept watered, checking that strings of lights don’t have any frays and to make sure lithium batteries are kept dry.

“A lot of people around here still like the real Christmas trees and they need to keep them well-watered and make sure they don’t dry out,” Joseph said. “And the same rules for outdoor lighting applies to indoor lighting on a tree. If they short out or you start having any problem with it, you don’t want to put it on that tree.”

He also said that real trees should be fresh cut and have tight needles, to cut about two inches off the bottom of the tree before putting it in the stand, never set it near a heat source, especially those that have open flame and trees need to be watered daily since they can absorb a gallon of water a day.

Artificial trees should always be UL approved and labeled fire resistant.

Another time to be cautious is when putting up decorations outside.

Make sure that you have a proper-sized ladder and make sure that it is at least 10 feet away from power lines.

And be careful on how you put up lights on the house.

Joseph recommends using LED lights since they don’t heat up and to make sure the wires aren’t frayed.

“Never use staples,” he said. “If you shoot a staple through the wire, it turns into a little toaster element, the electric current will heat up that staple. And eventually, that is going to cause a problem.”

He also recommends never using lights marked indoor for outside and to keep all outside decorations that use electric out of water. Use electric tape to cover plug openings to help keep out moisture.

Another concern is lithium batteries that are used in all types of devices. The issue is that lithium reacts violently with moisture and can cause fires.

“We have had incidents of lithium batteries in toys get wet and then catching on fire when they’re brought back in the house,” Joseph said. “The hover boards that the kids were all riding are notorious for that.”

He said even the little button-style lithium have also caused an issue. Joseph said he was talking to the state fire marshal about a case where the batteries were still in the package and the cardboard got wet as it was being brought into the house.

“A little while later, the people smelled smoke and the container was starting to burn,” Joseph said. “The state fire marshal said the batteries had gotten wet and were starting to superheat and if they hadn’t seen it, it would have gone from smoking to a real fire. So, you’ve got to keep those dry.”

The Ironton Elks will be having a fundraiser spaghetti dinner for one of the fire victims, Patty Cartmell, on Friday, from 3:30-7:30 p.m. Dinners include spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. Cost is $7 for adults and $4 for kids. It will be at the Elks clubhouse, 416 Park Ave., Ironton.