How To Keep Your Home Safe From Fire This Winter

1/15/2019 (Permalink)

Properly using and caring for your heating equipment in your home is paramount in order to prevent a fire emergency from happening.

Remember these tips that can help keep you and your family safe from winter fire damage. 

Check Your Alarms

Make sure you have both smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed throughout your home, especially in and near the rooms where you will be using additional heating. Test to see if they are in working order. otherwise replace it right away.

Have your furnace serviced every year.

To keep your furnace burning cleanly and proficiently, it is important to have yearly maintenance performed. Not only will this insure that your furnace is performing at its maximum capacity, it may help extend the life, saving you money in the long run.

Never Leave a Fire or Heater Unattended

Keep carpets, drapes, furniture and all other combustible items away from fireplaces and space heaters while they are in use. Use a firescreen to keep small children and pets away from fireplace flames, and watch to make sure sparks are not projected toward anything that could catch on fire.

Remember to turn off space heaters when you are not in the room, and don’t leave them on while everyone in the house is asleep.  If something should go wrong, you want to be present and alert.

Test the Safety of Your Fireplace

Have your fireplace flue cleaned before each season, especially if you use it a lot. You can also test your fireplace safety by lighting just a few tiny pieces of seasoned wood. If the smoke goes out into the room instead of up and out the chimney, then you know there is a problem.

Some common fireplace problems include soot build-up, chimney debris including animal nests, and dampers that are closed or even partially closed. To prevent smoke and fire damage, you want to be sure your chimney is open and ventilating properly.

Burn Only Seasoned Wood

If you’re using a fireplace or potbelly stove, you want to make sure you are using only seasoned wood as greenwood does not burn efficiently and can create problems in your fireplace or stove.

Seasoned wood is wood that has been cut and left to dry under cover for at least 6 months to a year. Hardwoods, such as maple, oak, and ash are dense and generally best for producing more heat.

Keeping your home safe is simple just by following common sense safety. However, should you ever need fire damage restoration assistance, remember that SERVPRO Hackensack / Little Ferry is always here to help!