Gov’t Says Holiday Decorating Injuries on the Rise

`Tis the season for dancing sugar plums, goodwill toward all — and sometimes emergency-room trips from holiday decorating injuries.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says injuries involving falls from ladders while stringing lights, cuts from broken glass ornaments and other decorating activities are on the rise. The government estimates that more than 13,000 people were treated in emergency rooms for such injuries during the last two months of last year, up from 10,000 in 2007.

The commission also reminds that those twinkling lights on the Christmas tree can erupt into flames in a matter of seconds.

CPSC says Christmas tree fires are blamed for about four deaths each year and $18 million in property damage.