Winter Heating Safety

February 5, 2021

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 store 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, such as lighter fluid, kerosene or gasoline to start a fire.
• 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.