Fall winds and rustling leaves forecast cozy evenings around a crackling fire. While a warm hearth is inviting, it can pose a few dangers to tots and other family members. Here are some simple precautions to ensure that your fireplace, chimney, hearth or wood stove is as safe as it is comforting this season.
Protecting Small Children from Hearth and Fire
Even without a fire, a hearth's sharp corners and rough surfaces pose year-round dangers to babies and toddlers. Padded hearth guards made of fire-retardant foam are an easy remedy for accidental bumps and cuts, but hearth padding doesn't limit access to the fireplace itself. If your fireplace has a mounted screen or door, secure it with a locking device like KidCo's Fireplace Door Lock. If open, keep the fireplace clean of ashes and burned debris so little hands and mouths stay soot-free.
For fireplaces or wood stoves that receive heavy use during the winter months, KidCo's HearthGate(TM) Baby Safety Gate is an ideal child safety solution. It fully surrounds the hearth area to protect little ones from the fire's obvious dangers and the hearth's hard surfaces. Plus, it keeps fire tools, wood boxes and gas valve keys safely out of reach.
Chim-Chim'ney! Maintaining a Safe Fireplace and Chimney
To ensure safe operation, fireplace and chimney systems should be inspected and cleaned each year - even in warmer areas where fireplace use is less frequent. Flammable creosote from burning logs builds up on chimney walls over time, and obstructions such as bird or animal nests can inhibit proper venting and possibly cause a chimney fire. Cracks or deterioration also pose fire hazards and can even allow dangerous carbon monoxide to escape into the home. Professional chimney sweeps offer cleaning, inspection and maintenance services; the Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) provides a list of certified "Sweeps" online at http://www.csia.org.
Enjoy Crackling Warmth - Safely!
Seasoned hardwood or artificial fire logs are the safest fuels for fireplaces and wood stoves, while blank or black ink newsprint is an inexpensive and popular starter. Color newspaper sections should not be used as these inks may release unwanted fumes -- for this reason, too, never burn wrapping paper or other rubbish in a fireplace. And, of course, never use charcoal lighter fluid or gasoline to light a fire. The vapors from even a small amount of these fluids can concentrate in a fireplace or woodstove and cause an explosion.
Also remember to keep fires to an appropriate size. A too-large fire may overheat the surrounding wall or roof materials, causing them to deteriorate or even ignite. Place logs toward the rear of the fireplace to create a better draw of smoke up the chimney, and keep the damper open until the ashes are cool to minimize any buildup of dangerous carbon monoxide.
Last -- but certainly not least -- be sure that fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors have new batteries and operate properly. If you haven't invested in a household fire extinguisher, now is the perfect time to do so. Make it a pre-holiday gift to yourself and enjoy family fireside gatherings with added peace-of-mind.
