Heating Season Is Here: Keep Space Heaters 3 Feet From Anything That Burns and Turn Them Off at Night, USFA Says
With mid-October nights turning cold across much of the United States, households are switching on furnaces and space heaters — and the U.S. Fire Administration USFA, part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA, has published its heating-season safety guidance through the “Put a Freeze on Winter Fires” campaign run with the National Fire Protection Association NFPA.
According to USFA, about half of all home heating fires in the U.S. occur in December, January and February; heating equipment is involved in 1 in every 7 home fires and in 1 in every 5 home fire deaths.
For space heaters, the guidance is specific: place them on a flat, level surface at least 3 feet from bedding, drapes, furniture and anything else that can burn, and keep children and pets away. Turn the heater off every time you leave the room and before going to bed. Plug it directly into a wall outlet — one heat-producing appliance per outlet, never an extension cord or power strip — and choose models with an automatic tip-over shut-off and the label of a recognized testing laboratory. Never use an oven to heat a home, and never put gasoline in a kerosene heater.
Fireplaces and chimneys should be inspected and cleaned by a qualified professional every year; use a sturdy screen in front of the fireplace, and put cooled ashes in a covered metal container stored outside, at least 10 feet from the home.
USFA also calls for smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, tested monthly, plus carbon monoxide alarms, also tested monthly. Fuel-burning heating systems should be professionally inspected once a year, and portable generators must run outdoors, well away from windows — never in a garage or inside the home.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：一台陶瓷电暖器特写（资料图）。Tony Webster 摄，CC BY 2.0，via Wikimedia Commons / Photo: Close-up of an electric ceramic space heater (file photo). Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
