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Toasty and Safe from Fires | SERVPRO of Houston County
1/16/2024 (Permalink)
Fire safety is a top priority for us at SERVPRO of Houston County this winter. Keep your home safe with these helpful tips!
The cozy season is more than here, which means wearing all the fuzzy clothes and spending as much time as possible under a blanket. There is nothing quite like curling up with a toasty fire gently burning in the fireplace.
Did you know that the number of house fires goes up considerably in the winter? Cozying up is great—when you do it safely. Fireplace, space heaters and other heating devices can leave our homes vulnerable to disasters when they are not handled with care.
There really isn’t anything that can quite compare to the sights and sounds of a fire on a cold night. While it may be a great way to relax, fireplaces are one of the more dangerous places in your home when they are not properly maintained. If you use wood in your fireplace, ash and other debris should be cleaned out after every use. Your chimney should be cleaned and inspected by a professional every year.
Never put anything that could catch fire near your fireplace, including mantle decorations. You should have smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector that is working well either in the room with your fireplace or right outside of it. If you have a gas or electric fireplace, check the connection point often to ensure nothing is leaking. Dust around your fireplace weekly, and it’s never a bad idea to keep a fire extinguisher close at hand when you do use your fireplace.
Space heaters are a great way to warm a room, but they are another common source of house fires in the winter. Space heaters are responsible for nearly 1,700 house fires every year, most of them preventable.
Always run your space heater on a flat, even surface. Space heaters need room to work, so make sure they have a three foot radius around them. Always check the cord before plugging it in directly to the wall. Space heaters should never be plugged into an extension cord or power strip.
Teach your children and your pets to stay away from the space heater when it is operating. Even if the heat feels great directly on your feet, avoid putting the space heater too close to the couch, bed or curtains. Turn your space heater off at night—blankets are a much safer option for staying warm.
If your space heaters are more than five years old, you may want to consider upgrading them in order to get the best safety features. While all new space heaters that are available for purchase are going to come with some kind of safety features, there are a few things you want to look for before you choose to run one in your home.
Do a little research on the manufacturer to ensure they are both certified and reliable. The units should have been put through plenty of testing before being resold. Any space heater you use should have automatic shut off features that kick in when the unit has been running for a certain amount of time and when the unit is bumped or knocked over.
Cords on space heaters should be well-made and at least six feet in length. Since plugging into an extension cord or other electrical extender is a huge no-no with space heaters, make sure you are purchasing one with a long enough cord to meet your needs and run safely.
By giving a little love to your fireplace and running your space heaters safely, you can keep your home warm and toasty all season long. If you do have an incident, one phone call to SERVPRO of Houston County is all it will take to clean up smoke, soot and any other damages fast.
A quick fire damage restoration is just a phone call away. Call SERVPRO® for immediate assistance.