Hunk of “Burnin’” Love
Monday, February 4th, 2019
I’m thinking February is a great time to “heat things up”, and talk about preventing fire damage since it’s steamy Valentine’s month and all.
Did you know that we see the majority of fire damage insurance claims during the winter months? A fairly large amount of these fires are due to heating equipment. According to the Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s office, from November 2017 through the end of February 2018, 33 people lost their lives in accidental residential structure fires. Not to be morbid during the month of love, but this is serious business!
Try to use common sense and the following tips provided by the State Fire Marshal’s office:
- Give space heaters space. Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away, and use automatic shut off features.
- Place those space heaters on a solid, flat surface.
- Turn portable heaters off when you leave the room, and especially before bed.
- Never use your oven to heat your home (Why did this make me ask, “who does that?” I guess in a pinch).
- Have chimneys inspected yearly.
- Burn only dry, seasoned wood in fireplaces and woodstoves. Don’t be burning garbage in your fireplace, either.
- Make sure your fireplace has a good screen to stop sparks from flying out. (Growing up I witnessed my parents save many a rug, albeit a few black holes, while stoking the fire.).
- Follow manufacturer’s instructions during installations, and make sure fuel-burning equipment is vented to the outside to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Install and maintain working smoke alarms. If you can’t afford one, or just plain need one, reach out to your local fire department. They’ll be happy to help!
*As a side note, be sure to clean out your gutters. One fire project we completed was due to chimney sparks catching dried leaves on fire in the gutter! You just never know…
Happy “hunk of burnin’ love” to you and yours! (Gotta love Elvis….and now you have that song in your head…you’re welcome.)
If your home or business has been damaged by fire, you know what to do. Call us up 24/7! 865-691-1169
Happy February!
XOXO
-Amanda
OH! Last but not at all least, just to scare the common sense out of you, I am inserting a few dramatic pictures of fire damages we have worked with over the years:
