Staying fire safe in the winter season

COLUMBIA (WOLO): With below freezing temperatures here at home over the last week, ABC Columbia spoke with the Columbia Richland Fire Department today to give us some important reminders on fire safety in the cold weather. 

As the temperatures go down, the heat inside your home goes up, and this time of year is all about being fire safe. 

Assistant Fire Marshall, Ben Gieleverett says, “We do see an uptick in the numbers of fires due to the fact that people use different sources to heat with.”

Anything from ovens and fireplaces to candles and space heaters, Gieleverett says to follow the three feet rule.

“Three foot is the magic number. You want to keep anything that can burn, combustible, three feet away from it, like a dome per say, and even carpet. Carpet can burn as well.”

It takes just seconds for a nice chilly day to turn into a fiery tragedy, so here’s some tips to make sure you’re staying warm and fire free.

“If you have a gas stove, a gas range, anything that has gas emits carbon monoxide, so you want to be careful with that. One thing you never want to do is go to sleep with a space heater on. They’re not designed for that. “

Avoid clutter in your home, have an exit plan, get your fireplace cleaned once a year, unplug small appliances, and check your fire alarm regularly.

Gieleverett says, “You also want to blow the dust out of it, because overtime dust will collect in them and cause them to malfunction and not work properly if there is an actual fire.”

When it comes to fire safety, education is key, and there are now more ways than ever to be fire aware as more people stay at home due to covid-19. 

“They can get in contact with us. We can do a virtual home fire safety survey. We can walk through their home through face-time, or other means, where we can actually show them fire safety tips.”