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Fire Inspector: Hot tips for heating your home

  • Published
  • By William J. Ferguson
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Fire Prevention Office
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Curling up with a good book by the fireplace is one of the best parts of winter months. But did you know that heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths? Almost half of home heating equipment fires are reported December through February. With a few simple safety steps and precautions you can prevent most heating fires from happening.

· Keep flammable items at least three feet away from heating equipment, including furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves, or portable space heaters.
· Have a three-foot "child-free zone" around heating equipment.
· Never use your oven to heat your home.
· Have a qualified professional install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer's instructions.
· Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
· Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.
· Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel burning heating equipment.
· Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room. Ashes should be cool before putting them in a metal container. Keep the container a safe distance away from your home.
· Test smoke alarms monthly.
· Space heaters are authorized in the workplace at JB MDL where a temperature of at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit cannot be maintained. In these cases, facility managers must submit an AF Form 332 requesting approval for space heater use.

For more information about heating equipment safety tips, please contact Fire Inspector William Ferguson at the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Fire Prevention Office at (609) 754-2451.