Make sure products have ULC or CSA tags
Paul Flemming, who is also the city's fire prevention officer, said uncertified electrical appliances and cords are becoming more common.
"We're on the constant lookout for Christmas lights and things that are uncertified," he said. "We do have occasions when they caused fires."
Flemming said fire officials check stores regularly for these items, and remove any products they find from the shelves.
He urges shoppers to look for ULC or CSA tags on a product's electrical cord, which shows that it is certified by the Underwriter Laboratories of Canada or Canadian Standards Association.
If there's no tag, Flemming said, don't use that product.
"If you can buy a set of lights for $2, you know there's something not right there," he said.
Related News
Electricity turns garbage into graphene
LONDON - Science doesn’t usually take after fairy tales. But Rumpelstiltskin, the magical imp who spun straw into gold, would be impressed with the latest chemical wizardry. Researchers at Rice University report today in Nature that they can zap virtually any source of solid carbon, from food scraps to old car tires, and turn it into graphene—sheets of carbon atoms prized for applications ranging from high-strength plastic to flexible electronics. Current techniques yield tiny quantities of picture-perfect graphene or up to tons of less prized graphene chunks; the new method already produces grams per day of near-pristine graphene in the…
