Fire Prevention Profile: Home Heating Safety

10/25/2018 (Permalink)

House fire photo, courtesy of FEMA.

As October comes to an end, we can all start to feel that chill in the air.

Fall is a time known for “sweater weather,” a time of year to get cozy. And as we get deeper into autumn, we know old man winter is not far behind.

When winter arrives, the sweaters are no longer enough to keep us warm and snug and we all start to rely on home heating to get us through the bitter months (honestly, some of us have already turned on our thermostats!).

However, when it comes to home heating, the threat of fire is never far behind. In fact, according to FEMA, heating is the second leading cause of home fires after cooking.

Furnaces, space heaters, fireplaces and woodstoves all have the potential to cause a blaze. So, it’s important to follow some safety rules when using any of these.

FEMA has a list of advice for each piece of equipment we listed:

• Furnaces:
• Have your furnace inspected each year by an HVAC professional.
• Keep anything flammable at least three feet from your furnace.
• Keep anything flammable away from implements like heat registers too.
• Woodstoves/Fireplaces:
• Have your chimney inspected and cleaned once a year.
• Keep anything that can burn at least three feet from your fireplace or woodstove.
• Do not burn paper in your fireplace or woodstove.
• Put the fire out before you go to sleep or leave the house.
• Put ashes in a metal container with a lid, outside, at least three feet away from your house.
• Keep a glass or metal screen in front of your fireplace to keep sparks and embers from jumping out.
• Space Heaters:
• Again, keep anything flammable or that can burn, at least three feet away from the space heater.
• Make sure the heater has an automatic shut off on the event it falls over.
• Turn heaters off when you leave the room or go to bed.
• Plug portable heaters directly into wall outlets, never into extension cords or power strips.
• Only use space heaters from a recognized testing laboratory.

These are some easy tips to follow and they’re also very important. According to FEMA, 75% of home heating fires are “confined,” meaning they are confined to chimneys, flues or fuel burners (so get those chimneys cleaned!) and 29% of heating fires that are not confined are caused when something flammable is left too close to a heat source.

It’s also important to note that, as FEMA reports, home heating fires peak in January (that’s the month when 21% of those blazes occur) and those fires peak between the hours of 5:00 and 9:00 p.m.

So, be sure to stay warm and cozy and SAFE during the cold months ahead!