How can you stay warm safely this winter? Cedar Rapids firefighter offers tips

The weather has started to turn colder, and furnaces, fireplaces and heaters soon will be put to good use. While staying warm is important, efforts to do so sometimes can become hazardous.

Capt. Lucas Kennedy, with the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, recently spoke with The Gazette about the best ways to keep warm while avoiding fire hazards, and other winter dangers.

Q: As the weather starts to get colder, what are some of the things that start to show up in people's houses that can be potential fire hazards?

A: “Candle usage increases around the holiday season, and accounts for a little over 10 percent of actual household fires. Candles are pretty prevalent. With space heaters, there's been a big push to try to get people to not plug their space heaters into extension cords. However, people still are doing that, and that's absolutely something that we try to push people to not do. Any kind of heating source, whether it be a Scentsy, space heater or even a curling iron, anything's going to be producing heat … make sure that you only have one of those items in an outlet at a time. And of course always pay attention to surroundings around that area. What's underneath it. This includes candles and things like that.”

Q: What are some of the ways that you recommend people equip their houses for the winter so they can keep warm safely?

A: “Preparation’s big. If you want to keep warm you have to make sure that your whole HVAC system, the furnace, is working appropriately. If you have a fireplace, an old-school one, make sure you know how to use it and that it’s been cleaned appropriately. We go on quite a few calls every year where people don't know how to use the dampers, so they’ll light a fire and smoke will come out into the living room. It's very scary when that happens and it causes a big old mess. It’s very much a health risk.

“I think with the home, the vehicle, everything, when it comes to preparing for winter, you just have to start off on the right foot. Go out around this time and star getting those things that you need: gloves, hats, a coat, blanket, things like that in the car in case you break down. If you need tire chains, if you need a space heater or anticipate needing extra space heaters, go out and buy them now. Don't wait until it hits. It’s so surprising every year, you can't really find … rock salt, things like that. They just all disappear.

“If you aren't sure that you can necessarily heat your home, whether you can’t afford it or there's issues with your furnace in general, there are some local resources, predominantly through (Hawkeye Area Community Action Program), that can help you set that up. But you have to start that process in the late fall. You can't just call them up when the snow is already here. It's a lengthy process, but there's federally funded programs here locally that can help with that.”

Q: What’s that program called?

A: “It's called the LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program). November 1 is when people can start applying for it and that's on the HACAP website. I've referenced this a couple times with a few different people, normally when we find them heating their homes with a gas oven, which is something we of course tell people to absolutely not do. Massive, massive issues with that. But this is something that people can apply through if they are financially eligible. The process is not necessarily slow-going but it is a process. It's not emergency relief. Preparation is key in getting yourself ready for the winter to be able to heat your home.

Q: Are there any holiday supplies or holiday decorations that tend to present safety hazards?

A: “Make sure you throw out your Christmas tree before it becomes too dry, before the needles start falling off and becoming a fire hazard … For general hazard type stuff, we would recommend that if you get up on your roof for anything, whether it be removing ice dams, shoveling snow off of it or putting up Christmas lights, to make sure that you have other people in the home, in case something happens, have someone to spot the ladder. At the very least, have a cellphone on you, so if the ladder falls down or if you fall off and you’re able to call for help, you have some means of calling for help at that point.

“Make sure when you have your Christmas lights, when you buy them, you pull them out of the box and inspect them. Make sure that you're using the right ones. There are indoor ones and there are outdoor ones. Same thing goes for the extension cords. Some are waterproof, some are not. Some are meant to be outside and some are indoors.

“Back to the candles, candles are huge at certain holiday functions and you just have to make sure that you're keeping an eye on everything. Especially anything that doesn't have an actual holder, like a loose candle that you put up in a candlestick. We always like to emphasize, too, that Scentsys are not necessarily a safe alternative to candles. Those become a pretty big thing around holidays. It's a low energy-producing bulb, so just make sure that you don't have it next to anything that is combustible and that you have something underneath it like a coaster or a plate or something that won’t conduct heat to a wood table or tablecloth or anything like that.”

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com