Cedar Rapids Fire Department Aims to “Keep the Wreath Red”

"The fireside is blazing bright, and we're caroling through the night". It's the lyric to a beautiful Christmas song, but it's not so beautiful if the blazing bright fire gets out of hand and causes a hazard in your home. The last thing anyone needs to cap off 2020 is to have their home destroyed by fire.

While your white wreath signifies beauty, for the Cedar Rapids Fire Department in the coming weeks, it will mean danger. There's a red-lighted wreath outside the Central Fire Station at 713 1st Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids right now and it's not just for decoration.

They are taking part in a "Keep The Wreath Red" campaign for fire prevention and safety awareness. Each time they have to respond to a residential fire, one of the red bulbs will be changed to white. During this time of year, they remind citizens that fires increase significantly and to stay safe.  You're putting up your lights, lighting the fire to stay warm, and doing more things that increase the hazard.

CRFD reminds you to play it safe when using space heaters and power strips. More fires are caused by home appliances as we're cooking more this time of year as well. Although alternating white and red lights might look pretty, they want to keep theirs lit as red as possible...and keep you and your family safe to celebrate the holidays, as different as that may look this year.