Preventing House Fires

Fire prevention at home is something we don't always think about, but a few quick and easy steps can eliminate the potential for a house fire. 

There are some common causes of house fires that you can fix right now.

Erie's Chief Fire Inspector, Guy Santone, has some suggestions for at-home fire prevention.

Santone says Erie has several hundred house fires a year.

In some cases, the fires are preventable.

Here are a few things we can easily overlook:

Clean the lint out of your dryer regularly. Vents clogged with lint can easily spark a fire.

Heavy snow and strong winds have caused recent power outages in our area... so Santone recommends using flashlights instead of candles if you are without power. This eliminates the potential of falling asleep with a candle lit, or knocking the candle over.

This time of year, it's easy to get a bit careless when it comes to alternative heat sources.

If you are using space heaters to save money because of high natural gas prices, Santone says to make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector. Use caution with where you place the heater. It should be three feet away from anything that can catch fire. Plug the space heater directly into the wall outlet as opposed to an extension cord or power strip.

The Erie Fire Department offers free smoke detectors to home owners. For more information, call 814-870-1402.