With the Halloween holiday coming up more and more outdoor decorations are on display in residential yards which could cause a fire to accidentally start.

Jefferson Fire Chief Jack Williams tells Raccoon Valley Radio what you should do if you have outdoor Halloween decorations that require them to be plugged in.

“After seeing a lot of the balloons and the kind of stuff that’s going up, make sure that we’re using drop chords, and drop chords (that are) intended for one appliance only. I’ve seen a lot of the strips that have six or eight plugs in it, so if you’re using those, make sure you have a drop chord that’s rated for that kind of amps to be pulling through it, so it doesn’t get hot, melt and cause a fire of some sort.”    

Williams adds to make sure the drop chords you are using are also made for adverse weather conditions so that those don’t short out and cause a fire from morning dew to below freezing temperatures.