By Fox23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — As temperatures fall, the American Red Cross Tulsa Area Chapter shared tips on how to safely heat homes.
Red Cross said overall, home fires account for most of the 60,000 plus disasters that it responds to each year, responses go up significantly during cold months.
On average, Red Cross Disaster Action Teams in Kansas and Oklahoma responded to a fire every six and a half hours in October and every five hours in November. So far in December, teams have responded every three and a half hours.
“December, January and February are peak months for home heating fires” said Megan Haddock, Regional CEO of the Red Cross of Kansas and Oklahoma and Executive Director of the Tulsa Area Chapter. “Help protect your family by taking steps to heat your home safely all winter, like keeping heating equipment at least three feet away from anything that can catch fire, testing your smoke alarms monthly and practicing your two-minute home fire escape plan.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), space heaters are most often responsible for home heating fires. Red Cross shared a list of tips on how to heat safely:
- If you must use a space heater, never leave it unattended. Place it on a level, hard and nonflammable surface, such as a ceramic tile floor. Don’t place it on rugs and carpets, or near bedding and drapes.
- Plug space heater power cords directly into outlets, never into an extension cord. Turn the space heater off every time you leave the room or go to sleep.
- Keep children, pets and anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment.
- Never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.
- Never leave a fire burning in the fireplace unattended. Make sure any embers in the fireplace are extinguished before going to bed or leaving home. Use a glass or metal fire screen to keep embers in the fireplace.
- Have furnaces, chimneys, fireplaces, wood and coal stoves inspected annually by a professional and cleaned if necessary.
Red Cross also said to test smoke alarms monthly and to practice fire escape plans until everyone can escape in less than two minutes, which is the amount of time you may have to get out of a burning home before it’s too late.
If you cannot afford to purchase smoke alarms or are physically unable to install one, the Red Cross may be able to help. You can find more details on the American Red Cross of Oklahoma by clicking here.
