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Preventing house fires as the weather gets colder

Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths.

SAN ANTONIO — Temperatures have been dropping and many people are turning on their heaters or using space heaters. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fire deaths.

"At about three in the morning, I woke up to a smell. It smelled like smoke in my house and I'm hearing some popping as well," said Jackson Floyd, who is all too familiar with heater fires. Floyd said on New Year's Day that happened. He added, "I went straight to the utility closet where my heater is, and when I opened the door smoke starts billowing out of that closet."

The heater was drawing too many amps, but this year will be different. He told us, "The heater is not on yet in our house we are going to bring out a maintenance person to do a routine check on the heating, just to avoid a situation like this in the future."

"One of those things we absolutely recommend is getting your system checked out at least once a year if not bi-annually," Jeremy Blalock, a service technician from Jon Wayne Service Company says changing an air filter should be done on a three-month basis. Blalock said, "Depending on how many pets you have, kids are in the home - those types of things."

Most fires this time of year are electrical. Blalock said, "A lot of them are wires knotted together versus having a solid block to tie into, and those loose connections can actually cause those wires to burn."

When it comes to space heaters, plug them directly into the wall - not a power strip. And The San Antonio Fire Department says even with a small space heater, you should have at least a 3 foot "kid-safe zone" around it. And be sure to turn off space heaters before going to bed.

And what about that smell when you first turn on your heating unit? Floyd said, "My first instinct is naturally like 'Is something on fire in the house?'" Blalock added, "The smell is just dust, and everything they got caught on either your evaporator coil, your heat exchanger, some of that gets caught on what's called your electric heat strip."

If you've got a fireplace, make sure it has a sturdy screen to prevent sparks from flying into the room. SAFD also says to make sure you test smoke alarms once a month, maintain carbon monoxide detectors, and never use your oven to heat your home. 

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