On Monday a home on Victor Road suffered extensive damage after what fire officials believe was a blaze started by an unattended heater or furnace.
As the autumn shifts to winter and temperatures drop, officials are advising the public to take care when heating homes.
According to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), in 2011, heating fires accounted for an estimated 53,600 home fires across the United States. Those fires led to 400 deaths, 1,520 injuries and $893 million in direct property damage.
Columbus Fire & Rescue Spokesman Anthony Colom said electric heaters are a major safety concern during the winter months. He said they’re fine when used safely but must be kept away from any flammable materials.
“Basically what we try to tell people is you want to keep anything that will catch fire at least three feet away from electric heaters,” he said. “I recommend five to six feet to be on the safe side.”
He also said to never go to sleep without turning off an electric heater.
Colom further noted that wall heaters can be dangerous — particularly in older homes where they may be forgotten behind a piece of furniture. He said they’ll still come on if temperatures fall low enough, even if a home’s occupants don’t expect it.
“A lot of people will put a couch or dresser in front of them not realizing they still come on,” he said. “A lot of people think they have been disconnected since they haven’t been used.”
Colom said CFR typically sees a spike in fire calls during the winter months, especially early in the season as people get used to heating their homes again.
He said kitchen fires can present problems as well, especially in older homes where there’s not a central heating system. They’re also likely when residents leave a meal unattended.
“Most of your house fires come from kitchen fires,” he said. “A lot of people leave home and will leave the stove on or something cooking. You don’t want anybody to walk out of the home and leave the stove on with something cooking — a good way to remember you’ve got something going is to maybe take a big spoon with you if you have to step out of the room.
“A lot of people, especially older people, think they can leave home with something in the oven while they run to the store,” Colom added. “We’ve had a lot of fires that start that way.”
It’s also important to use fireplaces safely.
The NFPA found chimney fires to be the leading cause of home heating fires (38 percent) from 2007-2011. They only accounted for 6 percent of civilian home heating fire deaths, however.
Extension cords can be troublesome as well, Colom said, especially when overloaded with equipment that draws more power than they’re meant to handle.
“A lot of people don’t realize extension cords — especially the brown ones you see people use — are for temporary use,” he said. “You don’t want to hook anything up that requires a lot of power up to it. If you’ve got the Christmas tree hooked up to one, it should just be temporarily, not something you leave on all day.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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