Did you know…….

• From 2010-2012, an average of 45,200 home heating fires occurred in the United States each year, resulting in an annual average of approximately 155 deaths, 625 injuries and $351 million in property loss.
• Statistics show that heating is the second leading cause of all home fires, the leading cause was cooking.
• Home heating fires peak in the early evening hours between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. with the highest peak occurring between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. This four hour period accounted for 30 percent of all home heating fires.
• Confined fires, those fires confined to chimneys, flues, or fuel burners, accounted for 84 percent of home heating fires.
• Twenty-nine percent of home heating fires occurred because the heat source was placed too close to items that can burn.

Follow these heating tips to help maintain a fire and a safe home this winter:

• Keep anything that can burn, such as bedding, clothing and curtains, at least 3 feet away from a heating source, this would include heaters, fireplaces and wood stoves.
• Make sure the heater has an automatic shut off in case it tips over.
• Turn off heaters when you go to bed or leave the room.
• Plug portable heaters directly into outlets and never into an extension cord or power strip.
• Put fires in fireplaces and wood stoves out before you go to sleep or leave your home.
• Put ashes in metal container with a lid, at least 3 feet from your home.
• Have fireplaces, wood stoves and furnaces inspected regularly.

For additional information, visit www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/outreach or call the Spalding County Fire Department at 770-228-2129