Warm Up to Winter With These Safety Tips

“Dropping temperatures typically prompt a rise in the use of alternative heat sources such as fireplaces, wood or coal-burning stoves and space heaters to stay warm. Unfortunately, it can result in an increase in the number of home fires if they’re not used with care and caution,” said Cordelia E. Miller, director of emergency services for the Greater Lehigh Valley American Red Cross. “During the months of December, January and February, heating equipment is the leading cause of home fires, according to the National Fire Prevention Association. We urge residents to take precautions while staying warm.”

Heat Your Home Safely

• Fireplace Safety: Keep fire in the fireplace by using glass or metal fire screens. Never leave a fire in the fireplace unattended, extinguish the fire before going to bed or leaving the house. Provide constant adult supervision in rooms with fires lit.

• Call a professional: Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces and chimneys inspected annually by a professional and cleaned, if necessary.

• Appliances for cooking, not heating: Always follow the directions for using appliances that generate heat, keep them clear of flammable materials and never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.

• Do not feed the fire: Keep all flammable materials and potential fuel sources – including but not limited to old newspapers, matches, bedding, clothing, carpets and rugs – at least three feet away from heat sources such as space heaters, fireplaces and stoves.

• Space heaters: If you must use space heaters, place them on a level, hard and nonflammable surface such as ceramic tile floor – not on rugs or carpets or near bedding or drapes. Never leave space heaters operating when you are not in the room or when you go to bed. Do not leave children or pets unattended near space heaters, and be sure everyone knows that drying wet mittens or other clothing over space heaters is a fire hazard.

• Make sure smoke alarms are working properly and replace batteries as necessary.

• If you have a portable generator and the power goes out, always plan to keep the generator outdoors – never operate it inside, including the basement or garage. Do not hook up a generator directly to your home's wiring. The safest thing to do is to connect the equipment you want to power directly to the outlets on the generator. Connecting a cord from the generator to a point on the permanent wiring system and back feeding power to your home is an unsafe method to supply a building with power.

• Create a disaster supplies kit — Get together lifesaving items in both your home and vehicle. Go to www.redcrosslv.org for a list of materials.

“Precautions, prevention and preparedness are important for all households to ensure year-round fire safety at home,” said Miller. “The good news is that preparing for a home fire doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment or training. One way is to prepare is to install smoke alarms and check regularly to ensure that all smoke alarms in the home are functioning properly. It is important to make a home fire escape.

“In addition to functioning smoke alarms, one of the easiest ways to prepare is to develop and practice a home fire escape plan so that every family member, including young children and the elderly, can escape quickly and safety.

“Consider keeping one or more working fire extinguishers in your home and getting training from the fire department in how to use them. Models available for home use today are both compact and affordable,” said Miller.

Prevent Frozen House Pipes

Also, remember to protect your house pipes from freezing and bursting. Preventative action may make all the difference.

• Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.

• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.

• When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe – even at a trickle – helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water running through it is above freezing.

• Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.

• If you will be going away during cold weather, leave the heat on in your home, set to a temperature no lower than 55ºF.

Protect Yourself When Outdoors

When you prepare to go outside in severe cold weather, please remember the following:

• Most of your body heat is lost through your head so wear a hat, preferably one that covers your ears.

• Dressing in warm layers helps you retain heat. You can remove layers as you need to, if you become too warm.

• Recognize the symptoms of hypothermia that can be a serious medical condition: confusion, dizziness, exhaustion and severe shivering. Seek medical attention immediately if you have these symptoms.

• Wearing mittens will provide more warmth to your hands than wearing gloves.

• Recognize frostbite-warning signs: gray, white or yellow skin discoloration, numbness, waxy feeling skin. Seek medical attention immediately if you have these symptoms.

• Wear waterproof, insulated boots to help avoid hypothermia or frostbite by keeping your feet warm and dry and to maintain your footing in ice and snow.

• Get out of wet clothes immediately and warm the core body temperature with a blanket or warm fluids like hot cider or soup. Avoid drinking caffeine or alcohol if you expect you or someone you are trying to help has hypothermia or frostbite.

For more valuable information on preparing for cold weather, call the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley at (610) 865-4400 or visit www.redcrosslv.org.

The American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley serves more than 660,000 residents of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties. Last year the Red Cross provided health and safety education training; Lifeline, a personal response service for seniors; and emergency relief to more than 23,000 Greater Lehigh Valley residents. For more information about the American Red Cross of the Greater Lehigh Valley or volunteer opportunities, call (610) 865-4400 or visit www.redcrosslv.org.