Preventing home fires-
Are you interested to prevent your house from burning down this winter? Now that I have your attention, here's a message from your Newport Township Fire Department.
Use simple, old-fashioned common sense:
- Keep your fireplace chimney clean
- Keep combustible materials at least three feet away from the fireplace, furnace, hot water heater and space heaters
- Don't heat your home with your oven
- Consider using qualified professionals to install stationary space heaters and appliances
- Have a three-foot "kid-free zone" by the fireplace and space heaters
Chimney fires are one of the many common causes of home destruction and it's happened several times recently in the Wadsworth area.
Creosote is the black or brown, crusty, flaky, tar-ike material that forms when incomplete combustion occurs which can happen, for example, if there is inadequate heat or oxygen in the fire. Creosote can build up layer after layer over time and is combustible itself.
Given the right set of circumstances a perfect storm can occur igniting the creosote on the walls of the chimney, heating them to superheated temperatures causing the chimney to fail. You can guess what happens next.
Keep in mind these general safety tips:
- Have your chimney cleaned by a certified chimney sweep
- Don't use your fireplace or wood burning stove as a garbage incinerator
- Always use dry seasoned hardwood which burns hot, clean fires
- Place a cap or screen on top of the chimney to prevent birds from nesting and raccoons from entering
- Make sure smoke detectors are working with fresh batteries
- Have a working carbon monoxide detector in the house with fresh batteries
If you have any immediate concerns or questions, please contact Fire Prevention Officer Trudy Maatta 847 336-1080 or
[email protected]
