Prevent Fire In Your Home By Following A Few Simple Steps

With read some recent very unfortunate news about a family with seven kids that died in a fire in Brooklyn.  Statistics show that there are 3 major fire hazards in your home:

• Heating System – Furnace – boiler – hot water heater
• Fireplaces and other open flames like oven or range
• Electrical shorts

There are a few very important simple thongs to be careful of to prevent a fire:

1. Do not store any flammable material near a furnace or in the furnace room.
2. Make sure your furnace is clean, with no dust or lint build up, a cleaning  can be as simple as using a vacuum machine or damp cloth.
3. If your home or building has a hot forced air system (central heating or air conditioning) make sure your filters are clean.  We recommend that you check the filters once a month.
4. In case you have a heating problem, and the heat is off, do not use an open flame from the oven or stove, in many cases a fire can start right there.
5. Schedule a visual inspection by a technician at least once a year, just to check that everything is working properly.  A heating company should be able to tell and recognize signs that you cannot see.  For example, the color of the flame in the pilot of the furnace should always be blue and never red.
6. Do not use an extension cord for any appliances, especially for heating units.  Extension cords are forbidden by the code and in many cases as a result of using an extension cord wires will overheat and a fire can result.
7. Keep children and all flammable items at least 3 feet away from any heating device.
8. Make sure you have smoke detectors and even more than one in the furnace room just in case of a failure and fire extinguishers available and handy.  Smoke detectors should be tested often and fire extinguishers need to be in operating conditioning-the verification bar needs to be in the green area.
9. We highly recommend that you have at least one fire extinguisher in the furnace room, one in the kitchen and one next to your bar-b-q as those area are known to have an open flame  so you want to make sure your fire extinguisher will be available immediately if needed.

If you need any furnace maintenance or check up feel free to contact us and we would be happy to help and advise. Have a wonderful day.

www.questplumbingnj.com               201-399-2160   24 Hour Plumbing, Heating & Colling