Keep Your Home Safe from Fires this Winter
By: Rebecca Jeffrey
Updated: December 28, 2012
"When the winter months come along and it starts getting cold outside we tend to bring the space heaters out, light the fire place, use electric blankets," Birchfield said.
All keep us warm, but not necessarily safe.
So Bentonville Fire Marshal James Birchfield has some reminders to keep your home comfortable, not combustible.
"If you utilize space heaters, space heaters are great, you just need to make sure they have a ground prong. That if you tip them over they turn off. Make sure they have 3 foot of clearance around any combustible, whether it's a couch, a chair, your pant leg," he said.
Also, only use devices designed to heat your home.
"You shouldn't use your stove for a heater for your house, your cooking stove. They're not vented, they just put off poisonous gas in a room and carbon monoxide's a silent killer."
Fire fighters say it's never too late to get your fire place inspected and cleaned.
"When you put a fire in your fire place or your wood stove, you're putting you know a 400 to 1100 degree fire in the middle of your wood home, and that's the way it needs to be looked at. There's no way to get around the fact that it is a fire safety issue," Jake Cromwell, owner of Top Hat Chimney Sweep said.
Cromwell said getting your flue checked and cleaned can save your life from fire and gas as well.
"If there's cracks in that lining, heat and gas escapes from the chimney into other areas of the home that aren't designed to contain that kind of heat or pressure," Cromwell said.
Both fire fighters and chimney sweeps alike say one device can help you stay safe from all these hazards.
"To help you with all this make sure you got good working smoke detectors in the house and you've got good working co detectors," Birchfield said.
Fire departments throughout Northwest Arkansas will give you smoke and CO detectors if you call and ask for one.
All keep us warm, but not necessarily safe.
So Bentonville Fire Marshal James Birchfield has some reminders to keep your home comfortable, not combustible.
"If you utilize space heaters, space heaters are great, you just need to make sure they have a ground prong. That if you tip them over they turn off. Make sure they have 3 foot of clearance around any combustible, whether it's a couch, a chair, your pant leg," he said.
Also, only use devices designed to heat your home.
"You shouldn't use your stove for a heater for your house, your cooking stove. They're not vented, they just put off poisonous gas in a room and carbon monoxide's a silent killer."
Fire fighters say it's never too late to get your fire place inspected and cleaned.
"When you put a fire in your fire place or your wood stove, you're putting you know a 400 to 1100 degree fire in the middle of your wood home, and that's the way it needs to be looked at. There's no way to get around the fact that it is a fire safety issue," Jake Cromwell, owner of Top Hat Chimney Sweep said.
Cromwell said getting your flue checked and cleaned can save your life from fire and gas as well.
"If there's cracks in that lining, heat and gas escapes from the chimney into other areas of the home that aren't designed to contain that kind of heat or pressure," Cromwell said.
Both fire fighters and chimney sweeps alike say one device can help you stay safe from all these hazards.
"To help you with all this make sure you got good working smoke detectors in the house and you've got good working co detectors," Birchfield said.
Fire departments throughout Northwest Arkansas will give you smoke and CO detectors if you call and ask for one.
