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Health & Fitness

Five Tips--No, Six--To Stay Snug and Safe at Home

Every year, it's a game I play--to see how far into the fall I can get before I have to turn on the furnace. For the record, last week, I had to relent. 

I also stacked 2 cords of wood to go with our wood stove.  Pellet stoves, fireplaces and space heaters are popular. But each comes with their own set of dangers, some of them not so obvious. Heating is the second most common cause of residential fires, right behind cooking. So here's some safety tips I found: 

1) Closer is not better. A third of non-contained residential fires occur because heaters and stoves are placed too close to flammable items. Sheets, blankets, furniture, curtains and clothes can all ignite if they are within three feet of the heat. Be especially aware of things like curtains that may move with a light breeze.

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2) Do not leave a heater unattended. Shut it off and let it cool before going to bed or leaving the house. And be sure that the heater is designed to shut off if it tips over or overheats.

3) Make a clean sweep. Have your fireplace or stove chimney professionally cleaned every year, and only burn dry fuel to prevent the buildup of flammable creosote.

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4) Vent, vent, vent. Burning kerosene, propane and similar fuels can produce deadly fumes. Never use devices which burn such fuels unless they are properly vented, and never use a fuel other than the one a heater is designed to burn. Just a few days ago, a couple in Cranston were killed by carbon monoxide in their home because they were using a generator in the basement.

5) Bigger flames are not so bright. Never burn charcoal indoors and never break up a synthetic log or use more than one to quicken the fire. Either can give off killer levels of carbon monoxide. And never use a flammable liquid to start or accelerate a fire.

6) Smoke alarms save lives. I was stunned to learn that 65% of fire fatalities occurred in homes where smoke alarms were non-existent or not functioning. Having working smoke alarms reduces your chance of dying in a residential fire by half. How many of us check those batteries every year?

Be cautious when using alternate heat sources at home. And tell the kids to put on another sweater.

 Mike Bottaro is founder of The Bottaro Law Firm, a Rhode Island personal injury law firm. Mike's areas of practice include product liability and premises liability.

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