Safety Tips to Help Protect your Durham Home from Fire Damage this Holiday Season

11/21/2019 (Permalink)

Keep your Holiday Season Warm and Cheery with These Fire Safety Tips

As winter is approaching in Durham, CT, it can bring with it blizzards, ice damage, basement flooding, water damage and leaking roofs. It may seem ironic, but winter is the season in which the majority of home fires occur. Over 50% of all home heating fires occur during December, January, and February. Heating equipment is a cause in nearly 1 out of every 7 home fires. We all have plenty on our plates dealing with the effects of snow & ice, and fires are the last thing we want to think about.

Listed below are several easy steps we can all take to prevent fires from ruining the holiday season:

• Keep flammable materials 3 feet or more away from any heat source. Heat sources can include, but are not limited to, fireplaces, wood stoves, radiators, space heaters, and heated blankets. Look around any of the listed heat sources and read the product labels of all items next to the heat sources. Plug only 1 space heater into an electrical outlet at a time.
• Keep portable generators outside and away from all windows. A good rule of thumb is to keep generators as far from your home as possible, but be sure to keep them at a minimum of 15 feet away from your home. In addition to the fire hazard they present, they also emit carbon monoxide fumes.
• Install a carbon monoxide alarm in your home. Not just related to winter fire, carbon monoxide alarms should be installed in your Connecticut home and tested at least once a month. Multiple detectors may be needed in some cases to stay safe. The layout of your home can effect the way smoke and heat move through your house, so Installing one detector per floor, including the basement, is a way to put safety first and avoid harmful contamination.
• Your chimney and vents should be inspected by a qualified professional each year.

Should you happen to suffer a fire loss this season keep in mind that we offer 24-hour emergency restoration services.

Here at SERVPRO of Middletown/New Britain we have highly trained fire restoration technicians who are equipped to handle the worst fire damage. Not to mention, our SERVPRO technicians have the expertise to guide you through the overwhelming experience of fire damage.

For a stress free claims process, we'll work directly with your insurance company, helping to manage the insurance paperwork and process. Call 860-826-5169!

We’re ‘Here to Help!’