The winter season brings even the most hardcore outdoor enthusiast indoors, and homeowners light fires and plug in holiday lights. So Park City Fire Marshal Mike Owens is reminding residents to take proper firewise precautions.
“In fact, we had a fire just a couple of weeks ago where — it was no fault of the family that was using it — the chimney had just failed to work the way it was supposed to, and had allowed heat into the chimney chase and lit the chimney chase on fire,” Owens said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Dec. 15.
Fire officials say to fully extinguish fireplaces until they’re cold to the touch, like campfires. Owens said not to throw the ashes in the dumpster until then.
He recommended regular hearth and chimney maintenance and a smoke detector by every bedroom, tested monthly.
The top cause of home fires, according to Owens, is cooking fires. That includes putting items too close to burners and leaving pots unattended.
Then there are grease fires, which can’t be extinguished with water. Instead, he said cover grease fires and remove them from heat.
“Never, ever, ever, ever pour water on a grease fire. That is the worst thing you can do,” the fire marshal said. “Water expands to about 1,700 times its size when it turns into a vapor that blows the grease everywhere, and so it catches everything around it on fire, as well as the person who's putting it out.”
Owens said space heaters have become safer in recent years. But there is still risk if they’re knocked over or too close to combustible materials.
Holiday lights have also become safer as LEDs replace traditional incandescents.
“However, one dangerous little spot with LED lights is that you can only plug so many of them into one plug at a time,” Owens said. “There is heat generated, usually near the plug for the LED lights.”
He also reminded residents to regularly water Christmas trees to prevent them from drying out and becoming a fire hazard.
One of the hardest hazards to detect is carbon monoxide.
The invisible, odorless gas can replace oxygen in the blood and become deadly. It’s present any time something is being burned and can build up without proper ventilation.
“So anytime you have a gas furnace or even a fuel fire, so say, like a log or propane or gas fireplace, you're going to have that carbon monoxide,” Owens said. “Carbon monoxide detectors will tell you pretty quick if you have a large buildup of carbon monoxide in your house.”
He added that the Park City area has had some close calls recently and recommended carbon monoxide detectors on every floor.
