Fall Safety Tips From the Evergreen Park Fire Department

Fall has begun and with it comes cooler temperatures and the resulting seasonal increase in the number of home heating fires. 

An estimated average of 50,100 heating fires in residential buildings occurred in the United States each year and resulted in an annual average of approximately 150 deaths, 575 injuries, and $326 million in property loss. 

Heating was the second leading cause of all residential building fires following cooking. 

Confined fires, those fires confined to chimneys, flues, or fuel burners, accounted for 87 percent of residential building heating fires. 

Thirty percent of the non-confined residential building heating fires occurred because the heat source was too close to combustibles. 

Home heating fires are preventable! As heating season gets underway in many parts of the country, the Evergreen Park Fire Department would like to remind everyone of the following safety tips: 

• Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected annually by a qualified professional
• Use heating equipment that has the label of a recognized testing laboratory
• All heaters need space.  Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment.
• Plug space heaters directly into outlets and never into an extension cord or power strip
• Install and maintain carbon monoxide (CO) alarms inside your home to provide early warning of CO.