Hazardous Heating

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Created on Tuesday, 02 December 2014 22:00

Written by Victoria Nicoletta

AROUND THE NEK - With another long Vermont winter underway, it's that time of year to heat your home. But, if you're not cautious you could be creating some deadly dangers.

Each winter a lot of homes catch fire and burn down due to inattentive care of heating systems and alarms. The St. Johnsbury Fire Department sees a heightened call quantity of around 30% to 40%. Most of the calls that they receive are in response to carbon monoxide from furnaces, generators, propane and wood stoves.

The assistant chief of the St. Johnsbury Fire Department, Will Rivers said, "As far as carbon monoxide, make sure every home has at least one carbon monoxide detector on each floor. And if the carbon monoxide detector does go off to call their local fire department and have them check it."

Rivers also shared some good tips to help keep homes warm and safe throughout the winter season. He encourages people to clean out their chimney's a couple times a year. You should take care to not burn green wood. Try to keep the space surrounding wood stoves and furnaces clear. There should be about three feet of space kept clear around wood stoves in order to keep them from catching fire.

A lot of fire departments in the area will survey your homes as well as wood stoves free of charge, if money is tight for you.