Winter Heating Safety Tips

Brandon, MB – Did you know that heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths? Brandon Fire & Emergency Services is reminding the public of a few simple safety tips and precautions that can prevent most heating fires from happening.  

THREE FEET FROM THE HEAT

• Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove or portable space heater.  
• Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around the stove, open fires and space heaters.

BE WARM AND SAFE THIS WINTER

• Never use your oven to heat your home.
• Have a qualified professional install 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 off portable heaters when leaving the room or going to bed.

WOOD-BURNING STOVES

• In wood stoves, burn only dry, seasoned wood.  In pellet stoves, burn only dry, seasoned wood pellets. 
• Start the fire with newspaper or kindling. Never use a flammable liquid.
• Keep the doors of the wood stove closed unless loading or stoking the live fire.
• Allow ashes to cool before disposal.  Douse and saturate the ashes with water and place in a tightly covered metal container.

FIREPLACES

• Always use a metal or heat-tempered glass screen on a fireplace and keep it in place.
• Burn only dry, seasoned wood. Never burn trash in the fireplace.
• Use only newspaper or kindling wood to start a fire.
• Never use flammable liquids (lighter fluid, kerosene, gasoline) to start a fire.

ADDITIONAL REMINDERS

• Carbon Monoxide (CO) is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely.  In the home, fuel fired appliances, used for heating and cooking can be sources of carbon monoxide.
• Carbon Monoxide alarms are recommended.
• When using winter heating devices such as a fireplace, you will need to ensure that you have a source of fresh air entering the home.

For more information, reach out to Brent Kyle, Public Educator with Brandon Fire & Emergency Services at 204-729-2403 or Prevention Division at fire@brandon.ca.