Home Heating Safety Advice

It’s getting cold outside!  That means more people will be heating their homes by whatever means necessary to stay warm.  Rabun County Assistant Fire Chief Justin Upchurch offers this safety advice when heating your home.  “Every time that cold weather strikes we always start seeing an uptick in home heating fires.  Space heaters, whether portable or stationary accounted for 2 of every 5 home heating fires and 4 out of 5 home heating fire deaths.  So, some things you can do to keep yourself safe, have a three-foot space around all heaters of anything that could burn, any flammable materials.  Make sure that fuel-burning equipment is vented to the outside to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.  Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected annually by qualified professionals.  Turn your heaters off when you go to bed or leave the room for a portable space heater.  Purchase and use space heaters that have an automatic shutoff that will cut them off if they ever tip over.  Plug space heaters directly into wall outlets and never into an extension cord or power strip.”  Please follow this safety advice when heating your home this winter.