Heating season moves EMFD into a higher gear

Posted

As the cooler temperatures migrate across our region, as does the concern for home heating safety. As soon as the temperature falls, your East Meadow Volunteer Fire Department will begin a season of nearly six months running to heating system emergencies, as burners begin full throttle operation to warm your family home or business.

The chiefs, officers and members of the East Meadow Fire Department urge our residents to take steps each year to ensure the safety of your loved ones.

Heating equipment is a leading cause of home fire deaths in the USA with half of all home heating equipment fires reported during the months of December, January and February.


Some simple steps can prevent most heating-related fires from happening:

• Keep anything that can burn at least five feet away from heating equipment. This includes the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or portable space heater.

• Never leave a space heater on unattended.

• Have a five-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.

• Finish any exposed wood ceiling above your heating system with sheet rock of at least a 10' x 10' area, if your boiler room is unfinished.

• Never use your oven to heat your home.

• Have a qualified professional install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer’s instructions.

• Check all wiring and cords for damage, and/or loose connections.

• Have your heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.

• Never store flammables (paints, aerosols, gasoline, etc.) in any room that has your heating system.

• Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.

• Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel burning space heaters.

• Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from reaching the carpet or other combustibles.

• Ensure fireplace ashes are completely cool before disposal in a metal container ¬and keep ¬that container away from your home, porch or any other combustible structure.

• Know the capacity of your electrical outlets. Many heaters or today's electric fireplaces may draw more energy than the standard outlet. This could cause a fire particularly if the breaker fails.

• Have a working smoke and carbon monoxide detector on each level of your home and test each at least once a month. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendations on installation and locations.

In the event of a heating system emergency, turn off your emergency switch, all occupants must exit the home, call the East Meadow Fire Department hotline at 542-0576, and prepare to inform first arriving units, of the fire's location if known.

The safety list above represents the many warnings of the National Fire Protection Association, as well as the many experiences of your volunteers here in East Meadow.

In closing, we remind you that many of these warnings will also protect our East Meadow volunteers since your actions will likely turn what could have been a large fire, into a smaller fire handled with less risk.

Below grade fires are the undisputed most dangerous home fire to which your firefighters will respond.

Responding to these emergencies for 42 years, it no longer amazes me at what we see . . . flammables stored within inches of a burner, oil burners so dirty that carbon deposits sit on every surface in the room and, yes, in 2017, a 20-pound propane tank in the basement of a home during an oil burner fire.

Help make your home safe this year, not just for your family, but also for the men and women who will respond to your home in a moment’s notice.

John J. O'Brien is an active Ex Chief of the East Meadow Fire Department. He is the District Supervisor of the Jericho Fire District and has over 40 years of Dispatch and Supervisory experience.