Keeping warm and safe this winter

It’s getting cold outside and keeping warm is important but safety should be top of mind.

“We have been lucky, we had a nice fall, but winter is inevitable here in Regina,” said Angela Prawzick, public education officer for the Regina Fire and Protective Services.

“People should have their furnaces checked and maintained, annually so that way if there are any potential problems they are caught before they become a serious issue in the home,” she said. “We have responded to furnace problems in the past and most of the time it has been a furnace motor or the furnace motor seizing and overheating — and that’s the kind of issue that can be prevented through yearly maintenance.”

Even if a home is chilly, Prawzick said people should not use their oven or stove to heat their homes.

“The oven and stove are designed for cooking and not for heating,” she said. “Anytime you have an appliance like that and you leave the kitchen with it on, you have the potential for an emergency situation.”

She said far too many fires originate in the kitchen.

“In 2014, we had 167 structure fires, of those, more than half — or 89 — were caused by careless cooking,” said Prawzick.

She said the other causes included 31 intentional, 13 undetermined, nine electrical, seven careless smoking, four children playing with lighters or matches, three dryers or appliances and seven miscellaneous. There was also one fire caused by a furnace, one by a candle, one by fire place and one by spontaneous combustion.

Those fires caused $12.4 million in damages.

Prawzick said careless cooking was also the cause of a southend apartment fire earlier this year.

She said people need to also be aware about other dangers like carbon monoxide poisoning.

“Carbon monoxide can be a by-product of any appliance that burns fuel, so that can be your water heater, your furnace, or your natural gas stove,” said Prawzick.

However, problems only occur if the carbon monoxide is not being properly ventilated outside.

“Unlike smoke, carbon monoxide does not rise, it floats freely through your home and you can’t see it or smell it so unless you have a carbon monoxide detector, you don’t know if you have it in your home,” said Prawzick.

With the holiday season coming up, she urges residents to be safe and never leave any heat source unattended, whether its food on the stove, a candle in the bedroom or a heater in the living room.

“Fire can happen quite literally, within a couple of minutes,” said Prawzick.

She said it’s important to make sure there are working smoke detectors throughout the house because early detection can save lives. Prawzick also advises families to have a fire escape plan.