By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
The first few inches of winter have fallen upon the mountain in Tucker County and the mercury has begun to fall. Which means that residents of Tucker County will begin bundling up, cranking their thermostats and stoking those wood stoves and fire places. Here are a few tips from Tucker County OEM Director and Parsons Fire Chief Kevin White and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to help residents safely stay warm this season.
According to the NFPA, heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths with fire departments responding to an estimated 40,997 fires involving heating equipment a year between 2018 and 2022 which accounted for 12% of all home fires during that time and resulted in 470 deaths.
Space heaters and heating stoves were the most responsible heating equipment, according to the NFPA, resulting in nearly half of all fires at 46%, but also resulted in 76% of deaths and 72% of injuries caused by heating equipment.
The NFPA also reports that fires caused by fireplaces or chimneys were involved in fewer than one in ten fires caused by heating equipment at 8%, but caused over one fourth of the direct property damage at 27%.
According to the NFPA, almost half of all heating equipment fires at 46% occur between the three month period of December to February each year.
White recommends that residents have their furnaces inspected each year prior to having them fired up for the first time. “Its always recommended that you get your furnaces checked out before you fire them up every year,” White said. “Get them serviced.”
The same recommendation was made for those who use wood or coal to heat their homes, White said. “Same way with your flues if you are a wood or a coal burner, you should have your flues checked out and make sure everything is in good shape before you fire up your wood or coal stove,” White said.
In the case of small electric space heaters, White said that caution should be taken to make sure that the electric circuits in the house can handle the extra draw of power. “If you are using some type of stand alone electric heat, make sure that your circuits can handle the amount of voltage that is required,” White said.
White said that there is a problem of breaker boxes and circuits overloading from the space heaters. “A lot of times we have issues with breaker boxes and things overheating due to the draw of electric heaters,” White said.
In the case of heating with any kind of open flame device, White recommends having the home’s smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in good working order. “Of course if you are using something, you have to be careful with carbon monoxide with any kind of an open flame burning,” White said. “It is recommended that you get your smoke detectors and your carbon monoxide detectors, make sure they have good batteries in them and they are working properly.”
The NFPA recommends keeping combustible materials three feet from any heat source like furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves or portable space heaters, as well as maintaining a three foot “ kid free zone” around open fires and space heaters. The NFPA says to never use an oven to heat a home, as well.
When having equipment such as stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment installed, the NFPA recommends having qualified professionals provide the installation according to local codes and manufacturer instruction. The NFPA also recommends professional have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year.
If you smell gas in your gas heater, do not light the appliance, but leave the home immediately and call the fire department or gas company, the NFPA says.
The NFPA says to have sturdy screens on fireplaces to stop sparks from entering the room. Ashes should be cold before being placed into a metal contain and then kept a safe distance from the home.
Portable heaters should be turned off before leaving the room or going to bed, according to the NFPA. When using a heater that requires fuel, always use the right kind of fuel as specified by the manufacturer, the NFPA says.
Lastly, always test smoke alarms at least once a month, the NFPA says.
White said that public awareness in Tucker County has been heightened over the past 20 years regarding the dangers of heating devices. “I think public awareness has been greatly heightened over the past two decades or so about the dangers of heating with different types of devices,” White said.
According to White the house fire ratio in Tucker County is low, but there are still fires each winter from device related incidents. “Our house fire ratio in Tucker County is fairly low in my opinion, but we still, each department in our county, still gets a handful each year,” White said.
