As the leaves begin to fall, holiday decorations are starting to go up all over the UW-Eau Claire campus, something that has university officials concerned about the safety of students.

From Halloween to Thanksgiving and beyond, holiday decorations can have the potential to create dangerous situations, said Deb Newman, associate director of Housing and Residence Life.

“When you’re having fun, you don’t always think about what’s safe,” Newman said, explaining that one of the main concerns is the improper use of holiday lights.

In an Oct. 5 memorandum sent to all students living in the residence halls, Director of Housing and Residence Life Chuck Major reminded students of such dangers and provided a list of items prohibited in the residence halls.

“If you think something is unsafe, it probably is,” Major wrote. “Check with your hall director before you invest the time and or money.”

On March 4, 2005, an Eau Claire student received second-degree burns in a fire that caused an estimated $10,000 in damage, according to Spectator reports from March 2005. The student had been asleep when his bed, wrapped in holiday lights, caught fire.

Newman said that while the incident made people more aware of the dangers associated with holiday lights, the subsequent investigation did not yield any conclusive evidence to support the theory that the lights contributed to the cause of the fire.

Freshman Emily Paul, a resident of Sutherland Hall, said that after Thanksgiving break she and her roommate plan to hang up holiday lights in their dorm room. She said that she is aware of the regulations and is glad that they are in place.

“I don’t want this place to burn down, so I’d rather be safe than sorry,” Paul said.

She said that she will definitely be safe with the lights by “obviously not having them on when (they’re) not in the dorm.”

“I would hope that people take that into consideration when decorating,” Paul said.
Newman agreed, saying that the university has the same goal.

“While it might seem like common sense, fires happen . in group living environments,” she said. “We just want to be safe.”

– Nicole Strittmater contributed to this report.