Here are some safety tips for closing up your camp for the winter

As fall settles in throughout the region, many people across the northeast may be taking advantage of the long weekend to close up their camp for the winter.

Electrical safety may not be top of mind for camp owners while winterizing their summer places, but the Electrical Safety Authority says it's an important topic to keep in mind.

General manager Steve Smith says when closing down your camp, it's best to think of what your property will look like in the winter.

"Take a look around your property and do a bit of a site survey," he said. "Start thinking about what it's going to be like covered in snow, particularly with the power lines coming into your camp."

Smith if there are tree branches that could affect the power lines, now would be a good time to get an arborist in to trim them.

"Be very careful if you take it on yourself," he said. "There's been a number of tragic incidents involving power lines."

Once you're done with the outside of the property, he says you should then have a look inside.

"Make sure all the major appliances are either unplugged and turn all the breakers off," he said.

"If there's something in that camp that doesn't need to be energized, shut it down. If you're not going to be there, it's not great to have energy being used if you're not around to supervise it." 

Smith says you can also install ground fault interrupters "that will shut off the power if something goes wrong." 

"You have to respect power," he said. "You have to respect it is an energy source and it really could cause one of two things if it goes bad and that's a shock or a fire."