The power in Doug Boyer’s Rothesay, New Brunswick home went out a week ago. Christmas was dark, but his family made the best of the situation.

“We stayed there as long as we could,” says Boyer. “We were burning what wood we did have in the fireplace and heating water with a camp kettle and cooking on the good old cast iron frying pan.”

Don McCabe is the deputy Moncton fire chief. He says sometimes common sense can go out along with power.

“People say, ‘well, it is cold outside, I will bring my BBQ in.’ You are bringing a 20 pound propane bottle inside your house. If there is a leak or something, it goes to the lowest lying areas, it could explode.”

McCabe reminds residents not to forget about their roofs after a snow storm.

“So, if you can safely, and we stress safely, clean off you your roof, do so and if you can get someone to do it for you, that would be even better,” says McCabe.

McCabe also cautions to be careful when using candles.

“We all love candles, it can be romantic when the power is out and stuff like that,” says McCabe. “Don’t leave them unattended, don’t go to bed with a candle in the living room, don’t put candles on window ledges.”

NB Power says, when the power goes out, unplug and unclutter.

“If you have appliances that are plugged in that you don’t need, unplug them and if you have electric heat, it is a good idea to dial back the heat. If you have things on your stovetop or have things next to a heat source, try to clear those away or make sure it is turned off, so that when the power comes back on you are making sure you are safe from fire,” says Meghan Gerrish of NB Power.

NB Power has been working around the clock to return power to their customers.

“Well, we certainly can’t fault them, because when you look around, every tree in this entire southern province is covered in ice and so many of the power lines are overhead, they depend on running through treed areas,” says Boyer.

Experts say, if you plan on staying in your house during a power outage there are ways to be safe, but at some point, moving into a hotel or with friends should also be considered.