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If your house has a gas furnace, it’s important you follow safety guidelines to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning and limit the potential for fires. Make certain the area around your furnace is clean. Natural gas is highly flammable so be certain to vacuum and/or sweep around the furnace to remove lint, saw dust, dirt and other flammable items from the area surrounding the furnace. Cordon off the furnace from young children. Young children may inadvertently place flammable items, toys, blankets, … Continued

Winter is the perfect season for the family to gather around a fireplace. Before you sit back and enjoy a warm and cozy fire, it’s important you take a few steps to ensure your fireplace and chimney are in tip-top shape. Have your chimney annually inspected by a certified chimney sweep. According to the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA), the majority of chimney fires go undetected. That means you could have structural damage to your chimney and surrounding areas … Continued

A new study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that children between the ages of 5 – 12 are three times more likely to wake if they hear their mother’s voice than they are if they hearing a beeping fire alarm. Further, the study found that children wake faster — and would therefore be more likely to escape — upon hearing their mother’s voice. Children typically woke within two seconds of a voice alarm and in 2.5 minutes for a beeping … Continued

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), an average of seven people per day died in home fires from 2011-2015, with fire departments responding to an average of 385,500 home structure fires during that same time period. The leading causes of those home structure fires was cooking equipment (47 percent), heating equipment (15 percent), electrical distribution/lighting equipment (9 percent), intentional (8 percent) and smoking materials (5 percent). The majority of home fires took place in the winter months — January, … Continued