Bright Nights in Stanley Park is a beautiful tradition.
But behind the magic is a lot of hard work and attention to safety. Vancouver firefighters have been behind the scenes for weeks setting up lights. For them --climbing a ladder is second nature. But even up just a few feet they take precautions. One fire fighter climbs up, a second uses his foot to brace the ladder to prevent slipping and a third passes up the lights.
Captain Gabe Roder shows another danger -- the empty socket on an old light string -- a sure shock hazard.
"If the bulb is burned out just leave the burned out bulb in the socket," recommended Roder.
Before you begin check cords and sockets - for cracks or lose wires. And be warned that mixing old style light strings with new LED lights is a potential fire hazard. The LED's aren't made to take the same amount of power -which is why they are such money savers.
100 feet of LED lights costs about 20 cents to operate for the entire holiday season -- one string of the old lights could cost $20. Another simple way to save -- put your lights on a time
When buying strings look for the CSA or UL stickers -that means they are safety approved. If going outside they should be rated for outdoor use. If you are unsure -- outdoor strings have three wires, not two and to prevent electrocution --they should be plugged into a ground fault interrupter circuit -- they have the red test button.
And if you want to get rid of your old lights -- there's a way to do it -- and help a great cause.
"Hydro has offered to put a bin here at bright nights. For the duration of bright nights, for every strand of bulbs that is put in the bin hydro is going to donate 2 dollars to the BC professional fire fighters burn fund," says Roder.
And they'll also accept cash donations to help the BC professional firefighter's burn fund.
