Growing up my mom hated when we would burn candles.
She would have flashbacks to a kitchen fire that occurred when she was a child.
There were candles burning in the kitchen and it caused their kitchen cabinets to catch on fire.
No one was injured but it did a lot of damage to their kitchen.
Needless to say there were never trick candles on my birthday cakes...
and I wasn't allowed to have a Lite Brite either.
Winter means extra fire hazards inside your home.
Space heaters, candles, wood burning fireplaces, extension cords, plus all the extra decorating items that are used can be dangerous.
Consider these questions:

• Do you have a fire extinguisher?
• Does everyone in your house know where it is?
• Is it buried under the kitchen sink behind 20 bottles of cleaning products?
• If you have children living with you, have you showed them where your fire extinguisher is located so they know what it looks like and can bring it to you in case of a fire?
• Do you ever fall asleep with candles burning?
• Are you cautious when disposing of ash from a wood burning fireplace?
• Did you know that some rubber/plastic trash cans can catch fire if you put ash in it that is still warm/hot?

Take a few minutes to check on potential safety issues in your home and while you're doing it change the batteries in your smoke detectors if you haven't replaced them recently.
Check your fire extinguishers and make sure they are easily accessible.
Burn candles in jars so they can't damage furniture or ignite anything nearby.
Keep space heaters clear of anything that could touch them.
And use care with wood burning fireplaces.
Enjoy winter and stay warm!