HOME HEATING – FIRE SAFETY TIPS FROM THE SPALDING COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT
Did you know…….
From 2010-2012, an average of 45,200 home heating fires occurred in the United States each year, resulting in an annual average of approximately 155 deaths, 625 injuries and $351 million in property loss.
Statistics show that heating is the second leading cause of all home fires, the leading cause was cooking.
Home heating fires peak in the early evening hours between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. with the highest peak occurring between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. This four hour period accounted for 30 percent of all home heating fires.
Confined fires, those fires confined to chimneys, flues, or fuel burners, accounted for 84 percent of home heating fires.
Twenty-nine percent of home heating fires occurred because the heat source was placed too close to items that can burn.
Follow these heating tips to help maintain a fire and a safe home this winter:
Keep anything that can burn, such as bedding, clothing and curtains, at least 3 feet away from a heating source, this would include heaters, fireplaces and wood stoves.
Make sure the heater has an automatic shut off in case it tips over.
Turn off heaters when you go to bed or leave the room.
Plug portable heaters directly into outlets and never into an extension cord or power strip.
Put fires in fireplaces and wood stoves out before you go to sleep or leave your home.
Put ashes in metal container with a lid, at least 3 feet from your home.
Have fireplaces, wood stoves and furnaces inspected regularly.
For additional information, visit www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach or call the Spalding County Fire Department at 770-228-2129.