Local fire marshal offers winter safety tips and is asking for assistance from local residents to stay safe this winter season after a series of fires in the township.
by Amy Batista, Special Writer
FLORENCE — Local fire marshal offers winter safety tips and is asking for assistance from local residents to stay safe this winter season after a series of fires in the township.
Florence Township Fire Marshal Brian Richardson is encouraging residents to look out for themselves, as home fires are more prevalent in winter than in any other season.
Officials noted people are also at greater risk in the winter season when they may use unsafe heat sources or if they don’t follow fire safety rules in the kitchen or while using candles, according to the United State Fire Administration and National Fire Protection Association.
If you are going to use an alternative, you need to follow the standard safety practices, Fire Marshal Richardson said.
One such example is frozen pipes bursting due to the pipes being located outside and not protected as well from the frigid temperatures.
However, residents are warned to not place space heaters or lamps in crawl spaces to keep pipes warm, as unattended heaters and light bulbs can cause a fire.
”We had two electrical radiators incidents where the plug hasn’t caught fire but the plug is burned up,” he said, adding to follow all safety instructions that the unit comes from and “never ever use an extension cord.”
It has to be plugged directly into an outlet, he added.
The fire marshal also warned of the dangers of other heating sources such as wood stoves.
”We had a fire and luckily the homeowner was home, but they took their coals from their wood stove and put them outside their house on their deck which was wood,” Fire Marshal Richardson said, adding the home was on ground level and the coals were not yet cool from the previous day.
He noted that all of his coals go into a 10 pound metal can that has a lid on it.
”After they sit in there for days, I then dump it out in my garden nowhere near my house,” he said.
If not properly disposed of, it ends up being a “small, slow smoldering fire,” he said.
Heaters should similarly be serviced on a yearly basis to make sure it is burning properly.
Residents are also encouraged to keep anything that can burn at least three feet from any heat source like fireplaces, wood stoves, radiators or space heaters, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
”Over the weekend we (reported to) a chimney fire,” he said. “Heating your house with your wood stove or fireplace is more and more popular with oil being four dollars a gallon.”
He also urged residents to clean out chimneys on a yearly basis. A properly maintained chimney is going to vent properly,” he said, adding if the dampers are blocked or wide open you can run into the possibility of getting carbon monoxide into your house.
”You need a working carbon monoxide detector in your house,” Fire Marshal Richardson stressed.
Carbon monoxide alarms should be installed in a central location outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home and in other locations where required by applicable laws, codes or standards. If the alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location outdoors or by an open window or door. Make sure everyone inside the home is accounted for. Call for help from a fresh air location and stay there until emergency personnel, according to NFPA. A person can be poisoned by a small amount of carbon monoxide over a longer period of time or by a large amount of the gas over a shorter amount of time, according NFPA.
Residents should maintain alarms and ensure batteries are still good.
”We have been getting a lot of nuisance alarms” Fire Marshal Richardson said. “(Detectors) are beeping and people don’t know why. It’s because it timed out.”
During 2006-2010, an estimated 72,000 non-fire carbon monoxide incidents were reported to U.S. fire departments each year with these incidents have been increasing over time. These incidents are more common between the months of November and February. Carbon monoxide alarms are more common in the early evening hours, peaking around 8:00 p.m., according to NFPA.
If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage immediately after starting it. Do not run a vehicle or other fueled engine or motor indoors, even if garage doors are open. Make sure the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle is not covered with snow, according to NFPA.
Residents are also urged to keep snow clear from fire hydrants.

