Fire safety important during winter
"From November to March is the deadliest time for fires," said
While city fire officials haven't seen any fatal fires so far during the holiday season, there have been fires where holiday lighting is believed to have been the cause.
"There were two fires in the last two weeks where holiday lighting was suspected to be involved," Leonard said recently. Because of the amount of combustible material around Christmas trees, such as presents, paper and electric lights, "you could have a fully involved fire in less than a minute," he said.
Live Christmas trees and holiday lights can become the source of fires. Leonard said holiday lights should be checked before they are used and should be stored in places that don't get too hot the rest of the year, because heat can damage them.
"Holiday lighting is very inexpensive," Leonard said. If there's any problem with a string of lights, the best move is to just replace it with a new strand, he said.
A common issue with live Christmas trees is that they need frequent watering. It's also best to make sure the tree is already not dried out before you buy it, Leonard said. If needles shake off easily, the tree is already dried out and should be avoided.
Don't place live trees near furnace vents, because that will dry the tree out faster, Leonard said. It's also important to frequently make sure the tree has plenty of water.
"The key is watering the tree," he said. "Live trees drink more water than you think they do. Sometimes, you have to water them each day."
An artificial tree can burn as well if faulty lighting causes it to catch fire. Leonard said people shouldn't leave their Christmas tree lights on when they leave home or when they go to bed.
Candles are used during the holidays, and aromatherapy candles are popular at any time. But candles are a common cause of fires and should not be left unattended, and they should never be left burning when a person leaves home or goes to bed, Leonard said. Naturally, people should also be careful where they place candles so they can't catch combustible items nearby on fire.
"People light them and then forget they were lit," he said.
When the holiday season ends, trees and Christmas lights will go back into storage or to the curb. But people will still be using their furnaces, fireplaces and heaters, so people should make sure those are in good repair.
"Maintenance and housekeeping are the two key words" with heating devices, Leonard said. Annual maintenance and cleaning of furnaces, wood burners, and fireplaces and chimneys, by a professional, is important, because a malfunctioning furnace or dirty chimney or smoke pipe can easily cause a fire.
If you're buying a wood burning stove, you should have it professionally installed. A mistake homeowners make is placing the stove too close to walls, which dries out the wood studs and makes them susceptible to future fires.
Insurance companies are cooling to wood burning stoves, because of the fire risk, Leonard said.
"Oftentimes, an insurance company won't insure your house if you install a wood burner yourself," he said. "Some insurance companies won't insure (a home with a wood burning stove), regardless of who installs them."
Maintenance and upkeep are important, but a fire is always possible. So people should also make sure they'll be alerted if a fire breaks out by checking their smoke detectors once every month.
Smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years. As for placement, the best plan is to have a smoke detector in every room in your house except for the kitchen and bathrooms. In those rooms, cooking smoke and shower steam will give you false alarms.
Smoke alarms should also be placed in stairwells because fire travels up stairwells from one floor to another, Leonard said.
"One of the best firefighting tools we have is the smoke detector," Leonard said. "It truly saves lives."
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