The decorative lights that brighten your homes and spirits this holiday season can also pose the risk of causing home fires.

It is a lesson one Metairie family learned after their home went up in flames several weeks ago. Although the family of three made it out safely, they found out the hard way that everything can be gone in a split second after an electrical fire that started after plugging in holiday lights.

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Last month Marc Gervais and his family were getting into the holiday spirit and plugged in decorative lights outside their home, but while they slept things heated up.

"About 1:30 in the morning my neighbor comes beating on the door, I run to the back door, which was right back here, and actually saw this bright glow, I opened up the door and the wall was engulfed in flames," Gervais said.

Now the home they built from the ground up is destroyed. Fire investigators determined the fire started outside the home where they had plugged lights into an extension cord connected to an outlet.

"What they figured out was that either the cord was a really bad connection or the outlet could have been bad as well," he explained.

Now as more christmas decorations are going up in neighborhoods around town, they want to help prevent others from having a horrible mishap this holiday season.

"It's Christmas time right now and everybody's doing the same thing and so everybody's out having a good time, you put them down and you don't think anything about it and next thing you know you really should take some precautionary measures, in my opinion, check your extension cords, make sure they're good, make sure they're relatively new, buy new lights," Gervais suggested.

Jefferson Parish Fire Department officials agree and advise throwing away lights that have damaged cords or sockets. They say do not overload electrical outlets or run extension cords under carpets, across doorways, or near heaters, and do not use extension cords that are longer than necessary.

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Decorative lights lead to Metairie house fire, family warning others to be safe

Gadget lovers can be so hard to buy for. There are so many devices on the market these days, it can be really difficult to figure out which gadgets are actually worth the money. If you have a gadget lover in your life, here are some perfect gifts for them.

Philips Lux

The Philips Hue light bulbs came onto the market a few years ago and immediately became a favorite of smart home enthusiasts. But at $60 per bulb, the price is a little steep for the average gadget lover. So Philips recently introduced the companys new Hue Lux bulb, which packs in the same smart home capabilities at half the price. While these new bulbs dont have the ability to put out every color in the light spectrum, they do put out a golden glow of warm white light. For gadget lovers that dont need their bulbs to flash green, red and purple, but just want a well-built smart bulb, the Hue Lux is a perfect gift.

Philips Tap

Another entry from Philips, the Hue Tap, tackles one of the biggest problems with smart bulbs: the lack of physical light switches. Sure, all those smart home capabilities are cool, but its not very convenient to find your phone, unlock it, search for the app and mess around with a bunch of settings when all you want to do it turn on a light. The four-button Tap allows you to control your smart bulbs and choose from your favorite light recipes with a physical switch thats always there when you need it. The Tap also uses the kinetic energy of each press to power the device, which means there are no batteries to change or wiring jobs to do. It just works right out of the box.

Dyson DC59 Motorhead

Its not often that you get excited by a vacuum cleaner, but Dysons battery-powered DC59 Motorhead is a serious little machine. This svelte vacuum weighs less than 5 pounds but has nearly as much sucking power as a much heavier full-sized Dyson. The DC59 boasts 24 minutes of vacuuming action, which is more than enough time to tackle an apartment or small home, and its small form-factor also makes it well suited for cleaning the car, drapes, stairs or any other place where a full-sized vacuum would be too cumbersome.

Anova Sous Vide

Sous vide cooking has been gaining in popularity in culinary circles for years, but the price of these machines has left them out of reach for the home chef. Anova looks to change all that with its line of sous vide cookers geared toward the casual cook. Sous vide is the art of cooking food in a temperature controlled water bath, which means you can cook soft-boiled eggs with a perfect custardy texture or get the ideal medium rare steak without ever worrying about overcooking your food. Anova offers two sous vide devices: The Precision Cooker is the perfect machine for the first-time sous vide chef, while the Anova One is geared toward more advanced chefs that want even more control over their food.

Kwikset Kevo

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High-tech home gift guide

TAMPA Dave Mantiones only regret is that he didnt hire a home inspector to keep an eye out from the time the foundation to his new home was poured.

I wish I could go back and spend the money to have the house inspected every step of the way, said Mantione, who recently had a house constructed in Citrus Park.

He did hire a certified inspector once he closed on the house and what home inspector Mark Cramer found was a sagging truss, followed by a haphazard repair job. Cramer also found that subcontractors had fastened the rain gutters to the drip edge of the roof, which, down the road, could lead to a costly leak repair.

These days, a vast number of homebuyers hire inspectors so they know exactly what they are getting. But not every inspector is created equal. In Florida, there is a licensing requirement for home inspectors, but virtually every contractor in the state was grandfathered in when the rules were set up in 2010. Special interests got involved and they basically opened it up to everybody, said Frank Lesh, executive director of the American Society of Home Inspectors.

Members of his organization must conduct at least 250 home inspections to become a member. They also must take and pass an inspection examination and an ethics examination to become a certified inspector. Our organization is the only one in North America that has a third party certified inspection test, Lesh said. Consumers can find certified inspectors by visiting http://www.ashi.org. There are about 60 in the greater Tampa Bay area.

Most inspections are conducted on existing homes. About 15 percent are done on new construction.

Its really incumbent on consumers to know what they are buying when they get a home inspection, Lesh said. The word certified is like the word Kleenex. Everybody uses it, but Kleenex is a brand name and you get a quality product with it. Same with certified inspectors, he said.

While plumbers, electricians and contractors may be legally entitled to call themselves home inspectors, it is rare they actually have the expertise to legitimately inspect a house for a buyer, he said.

The most important thing you can do when looking to hire someone is to look at a sample report from that inspector, Cramer said. They are available on the ASHI website. They will mostly look the same, but if you look deeper at what they are writing, you can see if that is the type of inspector you are seeking.

A good home inspector is searching for expensive future repairs, such as a roof that is near the end of its normal life span, water intrusion in wood frame walls and safety concerns, like too-steep or rickety staircases, Cramer said. The buyer is given an inspection report so the repair issues can be addressed.

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Finding right home inspector key in spotting future headaches

Dec. 12, 2014, 5:09 p.m.

An almost brand new luxury home in Figtree's Redgum Ridge Estate is up for sale for $1.675 million.

This palatial home in Cascarilla Street, Figtree, has an asking price of $1.675 million.

Analmost brand new luxury home in Figtree's Redgum Ridge Estate is up for sale for $1.675 million.

The home at 5 Cascarilla Street is set on an 817-square-metre block and is palatial in its proportions.

Listed with Alexander Duncan, of Peter Taranto Real Estate, the six-bedroom home was designed to maximise the escarpment backdrop and has a north-easterly facing entertaining deck.

Built for entertaining, the marble-top kitchen features a butler's pantry with fully integrated Miele appliances.

Other features include high-quality bamboo flooring, automated living through C-bus controlled wiring, motorised Luxaflex blinds, internal sensor lighting, zoned video and voice intercom system, and Travertine marble vanities.

There is also a home theatre room with PBS and BOSE sound system and an in-ground swimming pool with spa.

The home is open for inspection on Saturday from midday to 12.45pm.

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Properties worth a look this weekend

A veteran's home trashed by scrappers.

Thanks to a local motorcycle club, the man and his family will have their house repaired in time for Christmas.

Hammering and drilling with smiles on their faces, 42-year-old Army veteran Sgt. Jacques Royal calls the veteran non-profit group Warrior Brotherhood, godsends.

"I love them, Royal said. "They just feel like brothers now, I love them."

Royal, who enlisted in the Army in 2005 and served active duty since 2008, left his home on Woodland Street in Harper Woods with his family. He checked on the home frequently and again last July.

After retiring for medical reasons, Royal returned in October to find scrappers had got to it first.

"They tore up the walls," said Scott Smith. "Stripped all the copper pipe, all the wiring, ripped cabinets off the walls, pretty much destroyed and gutted the interior of the house."

"There used to be a wall here," Royal said. "Whoever vandalized it tried to take the pipes out and just tore up the kitchen."

Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and two brain tumors, Royal is unable to work and is not receiving assistance yet. He wishes he could do more.

"This is the first time I've had to lean on someone else to help me out," Royal said.

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Ailing veteran's house trashed by scrappers, 'Warrior Brotherhood' steps in

Local drug investigators seized hundreds of marijuana plants from a Southwest Side home on Thursday, police said, busting up a large growing operation worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Authorities are now working to find the people who were growing the pot, police spokesman Joel DeSpain said.

The Dane County Narcotics Task Force found 850 plants, valued at about $850,000, when they searched a side-by-side duplex at 7101 and 7105 Raymond Road around 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Madison police said.

Utility workers told investigators about the home after they noticed illegal and dangerous wiring there, DeSpain said. Whoever was growing marijuana had rigged up electrical work and created a number of fire hazards, DeSpain said.

The people identified on the homes lease did not live there, DeSpain said. Investigators believe they may have rented the duplex on behalf of others who grew the marijuana, police said.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the operation to call Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014, or visit the groups website, madisonareacrimestoppers.org.

Thursday marked the second time in the past three months the narcotics task force has busted major grow operations.

In September, the group seized more than 1,100 plants from four properties in Madison and Sun Prairie, police said. The man police say managed that marijuana grow, 45-year-old Donald Alston, of Madison, has pleaded not guilty to eight felony drug charges and is awaiting a trial scheduled for February.

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Police bust big marijuana grow after tip from utility workers

RANTOUL Substandard electrical wiring was blamed for a fire that caused an estimated $20,000 damage to a Rantoul home Sunday evening.

Firefighters were called to 620 N. Penfield St. at 11:30 p.m.

The house (occupied by Jim Hamilton) was full of smoke when we arrived with a small amount of flames showing around the door header when you enter the kitchen, Fire Chief Ken Waters said.

He said the fire had extended into the wall cavity of the ceiling and started into the second floor, where firefighters were able to contain it.

Cause of the fire was an electric heater in the living room that was plugged into an outlet with substandard wiring. The wires overheated and caught the interior of the wall on fire.

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Wiring blamed for Rantoul house fire

MUSKOGEE, Oklahoma - Two men are in critical condition after a Muskogee house fire and two women are in jail.

Investigators said what was happening inside the home was criminal.

Fire investigators said the people inside the house were stealing electricity from the next-door neighbor and likely trying to power the entire house. 12/10/2014 Related Story: Two Men Critically Injured In Muskogee House Fire

Muskogee Fire Marshal Ray Bob Daniels raked through what's left of the back room of a house on Eastside Boulevard.

There's a breaker panel just on the other side of that wall, he said.

Wiring, that Daniels said was attached to that breaker panel, snakes down the back steps and straight to the neighbor's power box outside.

You can see where it has been cut right here, and then you can see where we have wires exposed right here in this box which supplies electricity to this air conditioner, Daniels said.

Daniels said it's possible the fire sparked because the wiring couldn't handle the amount of power the people were trying to use.

There were also several space heaters throughout the house.

I don't know if they had the wiring plugged into a heater... just don't know what was going on in there, he said.

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Fire Investigators Say Occupants Of Muskogee Home Were Stealing Electricity

DENISON, TX -- We now know what caused a fire that severely damaged a Denison home last night.

Firefighters say it was faulty wiring in the attic. And the old wood frame home burned fast, taking with it the family's gifts and memories, but not their real strength -- each other.

"I was wrapping Christmas presents in my dining room and then all my electricity went out," says fire victim Jackie Garling.

Garling says first she went to the breaker box, trying to figure out why the power stopped.

"And I looked up in the closet where the attic is and I hollered at my husband because I saw orange," says Jackie.

"She said, 'Does that look like fire in the closet?' and I said, 'Yes it does,' and it was," says fire victim Jeff Garling.

Suddenly, the couple and their grandson had to get out. Their daughter lives next door.

"My son was staying with my mother and she came running over with him in blankets screaming," says Jerika Liggett.

"The fire was already coming out of the attic. The occupants that were inside had evacuated," says Denison Assistant Fire Chief Bill Ray.

"I've lost everything I have. The most important thing was my pictures, but I have my life. I have my grandson," says Jackie.

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Family Speaks Out After Surviving Denison House Fire Blamed On Faulty Wiring

Seattle startup Porch.com keeps hammering away at the home-improvement market. Todayits announcinga new appthat will enable people to order home-improvement services with a few taps ontheir phone.

The app lets people search forhome-improvementservice providers onApple mobile devices, extending the Porch web site. But the apps key feature isaconcierge service that will directly connect homeowners with contractors to arrange projects, with a pledge to geta contractor on the phone in less than 60 seconds.

Porch image of its apps concierge screen.

Matchmaking is coordinated by Porch representatives providing live customer service during each session. The concierge service has been tested in recent months with thecontractor referral service that Porch offersnationally through Lowes stores.

Contractorsget a heads-up about the project request throughCaller ID on their mobile phones, indicating that a Porch referral isavailable, or via text message.

A more advanced version of the Porch app that offers instant contractor booking, all via the app,is also launching in trial mode in the Seattle area.

That is taking the next step to making home improvement easy, really frictionless, for homeowners, said Matt Ehrlichman, Porch chief executive.

Ehrlichman said the general idea is to make Porch like Uber for home.

To enable instant booking, Porch screens a roster of service providers and pre-negotiates prices fora fixed set of smaller home-improvement projects, such as hanging a picture, installing a garbage-disposal or wiring a light fixture. More complicated projects such as building a deck or replacing a roof still require research and an old fashioned conversation.

This aspect is similar to the service provided by cross-town rival Pro.com, a home-improvement venture started by Amazon.com veterans. Pro.coms pitch is that it offers instant estimates tailored for local market conditions, with online scheduling available so far in the Seattle area.

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With new app, Porch.com adds on-demand home improvement | Brier Dudley