Fire Prevention
Statistics show that heating equipment is the leading cause of home fires during the winter months. Most of these fires involve kerosene heaters, gas space heaters, and wood-burning stoves. You can reduce the chance that your family will experience a home fire by following some simple safety tips:
| Always make sure your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly. | |
| Fireplaces: have the chimney professionally inspected every winter (and cleaned if necessary). A chemical substance called creosote forms when wood burns. A build-up of creosote can ignite, causing a chimney fire. | |
| Wood-burning stoves and fireplaces should be fueled with wood only. Never burn paper or pine boughs, as they can float out of the chimney and ignite your roof or a neighbor's roof. | |
| With wood stoves, inspect chimney connections and flues at the beginning of each heating season. Also, be sure the stove is placed on an approved stove board. | |
| Space heaters need space! These heating sources must be placed at least three feet from anything that can burn, including walls, furniture, and people. | |
| Never leave children unsupervised in a room with a space heater. | |
| Always turn off portable space heaters before going to bed or leaving the room for an extended period of time. | |
| Be sure kerosene heaters are off and cooled down before refilling. Always refill your kerosene heater outside. | |
| Electric heaters should never be plugged into extension cords. | |
| Do not cover a heater= s cord with carpeting or furniture; this can cause overheating. |
