Visit our new neighborhood pages where you can send in photos, find quick information and news and join our message boards. Visit our new neighborhood pages where you can send in photos, find quick information and news and join our message boards. Question: I am planning a party on our patio and am using our pool as a backdrop to a themed event. Lights, good food and great friends. Are there safety considerations? Answer: Before you begin the party, be careful with holiday lighting near a pool or any body of water. The National Electric Code allows no lights within 5 feet of the edge of the pool and no lower than 12 feet if hung directly above the water's surface. Though you do have a light in your pool, submerged in water, it is manufactured for that purpose and is expensive. These lights are protected by specific means and shielding dictated by the NEC. The inexpensive holiday lights you buy are not subjected to the tests, standards or safety requirements that pool lights are. Holiday lights can be used away from the water, but they should be plugged into outlets with ground fault circuit interrupters, especially around a pool or spa. "Never attach decorative lights to your aluminum pool enclosure because it could electrically charge the pool cage, leading to a shock hazard," says Larry Brown, electrical division manager for Mid-Florida Pools of Orlando. Floating oil lights look great but also can be dangerous. The oil can leak or spill into the pool, float on top of the surface and possibly ignite and burn. Celebrate the holidays with plenty of light to decorate and illuminate the deck and party area, but use good judgment. Questions are answered by Paul Roth of Roll-A-Way Protective Pool Fence in Orlando. He is a member of the Florida Swimming Pool Association -- Central Florida Chapter, an industry trade group. Address questions to In the Swim, Orlando Sentinel, MP-240, 633 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801 or send e-mail to Homes Editor Terri Winefordner at twinefordner@orlan dosentinel.com. For a list of FSPA-member companies, call 1-800-416-6774. Question: I am planning a party on our patio and am using our pool as a backdrop to a themed event. Lights, good food and great friends. Are there safety considerations? Answer: Before you begin the party, be careful with holiday lighting near a pool or any body of water. The National Electric Code allows no lights within 5 feet of the edge of the pool and no lower than 12 feet if hung directly above the water's surface. Though you do have a light in your pool, submerged in water, it is manufactured for that purpose and i
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