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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To send DP back home in the snow to turn off the Christmas tree lights

66 replies

HugePotatoes · 12/12/2017 18:59

I get very nervous about things being left on at home, always have to check the iron/oven/tumble dryer etc.

This morning I got up and realised DP had left the xmas tree lights on all night. This pisses me off because who doesn't check lights etc if they are the last one to bed? I told him this and he apologised.

Fast forward to this evening, I meet him in a pub for food a 5 min walk from home. Really snowy and icy here.

I nip to the loo, then when I return he announces he's remembered he left the tree lights on again! I think he was hoping I'd tell him not to worry and relieve his guilt.

AIBU to have sent him home to switch them off, instead of trying to ignore the nagging thought of a tree induced house fire through my meal out?

He didn't complain, but thinks IABU to worry about these things. Am I?

OP posts:

stickytoffeevodka · 13/12/2017 12:51

Why do Xmas lights only catch fire when people are out?

Nobody said they did? But at least if you're at home, you stand a chance of getting pets out, and calling the fire brigade before the entire house goes up in flames.

VeganIan · 13/12/2017 12:59

Everyone reading this please water your trees. It makes such a difference.

But not with a hose pipe while its covered in electric cables, yes?

AnathemaPulsifer · 13/12/2017 13:03

This worries me too. I have a tp-link wifi plug for them so I can have them on a timer AND turn them on and off from anywhere.

purplecorkheart · 13/12/2017 13:06

I always switch them off when going out or going to bed. I used to have an fire officer as a neighbour growing up and it was one thing he drilled into us.

Dustysparrow · 13/12/2017 13:22

But....... even if you were in the house and your fairy lights did catch fire what could you realistically do to stop it? It would be an electrical fire so you couldn't throw water on it, plus would you be electrocuted if you then took out the plug? Our plug takes a bit of squirming to get to it behind the tree, by which point I would be on fire myself.....

what would you actually do....?

Dustysparrow · 13/12/2017 13:22

Other than dial 999 obviously!

AnathemaPulsifer · 13/12/2017 13:34

I'd use my powder fire extinguisher or my fire blanket!
www.ukfiretraining.com/extinguish.html

AnathemaPulsifer · 13/12/2017 13:35

(Both at the lounge end of my kitchen for easy grabbing)

AnathemaPulsifer · 13/12/2017 13:36

And you could also flick off the electrics at the mains b

stickytoffeevodka · 13/12/2017 13:39

I would grab my cats and get out, which I couldn't do if I wasn't home. And if the fire started while we were out, the cats would perish. They're indoor cats and have no way of getting out if we're not home.

No, you probably couldn't save the tree from going up in flames, but you'd at least be able to save pets and potentially important things before getting out.

Seconds can make all the difference in the event of a fire. I would rather be at home and at least attempt to the house going up in flames.

DianaPrincessOfThemyscira · 13/12/2017 13:41

YANBU. We narrowly avoided a fire when some cheap lights started smoking. DSS who was about 8 at the time noticed and came to ask us if it was supposed to do that! We were finishing dinner off. Had it been ten minutes later we might have been next door and not realised until the tree was on fire.

yolofish · 13/12/2017 13:47

We always have a real tree, and we water it regularly using a turkey baster. This may seem bizarre, but it means you can get the water where it needs to be and not spill it everywhere, including on stray lights. In fact I think we actually have a dedicated tree baster (ok, it's weird).

bogofeternalstench · 13/12/2017 13:56

We put our tree up on 2nd December and the lights haven't been turned off since! It is a fake tree and they're LED lights so I'm not too worried about it as they don't get at all warm to the touch. I figure it's no different to leaving the fridge plugged in.

So yes, I would say YABU.

StanMarsh · 13/12/2017 14:03

I must say, I am one of those who doesn't bother to switch them off when we go out - and we have dogs!

My thought was, people walking past the window will be able to see the pretty lights!

What an idiot. I will definitely switch them off when we go out from now on.

SomewhatIdiosyncratic · 13/12/2017 14:13

LEDs don't get hot to the touch so I'm curious about the difference in fire risk compared to traditional lights which got hot easily.

Has the rate of fairy light fires changed significantly since most people have switched to LEDs?

teenybean · 13/12/2017 17:31

OH is a firefighter, Christmas tree needles have their own oxygen source, so are extremely flammable, even watered trees are a massive fire hazard! So please turn your lights off at night & when you go out, it only takes a few seconds for fire to take hold, but if you're at home, those few seconds could make all the difference!

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