With winter on the horizon, Calfire this week reminded residents that improper use of poorly maintained heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires and home fire deaths in the nation.
Calfire in an announcement released Tuesday reported that half of all home heating fires occur from December through February.
“The cooler weather means an increase in usage of space heaters, fireplaces and other heating devices,” said State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover in the statement. “Sadly, when not used safely, heaters and fireplaces can often lead to fires, injuries and deaths that could have easily been prevented.”
Calfire provided the following safety tips to help prevent heating fires:
– Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from heating equipment such as a furnace, fireplace, woodstove or portable space heater.
– Have a 3-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
– Always turn portable heaters off when leaving a room or going to bed.
– Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to prevent sparks from escaping.
– Allow fireplace ashes to completely cool before disposing of them. Place in a tightly covered metal container at least 10 feet away from your home and any other nearby buildings. NEVER empty fireplace or woodstove ashes directly into a trash can.
– Never use your oven to heat your home.
– If using fossil fuel heating, install and maintain carbon monoxide (CO) alarms to avoid the risk of CO poisoning. Make sure your home has working smoke alarms as well.
For more information on safe home heating go to fire.ca.gov.
