Wednesday, February 07, 2007
A Rash Of Fires Has Officials Warning Of the Dangers Of Household Heaters
A rash of structure fires taking place this past week has officials urging citizens to use caution when trying to keep warm during the current cold snap affecting the Big Sandy region.
Local fire departments kept busy throughout the day on Tuesday February 6, battling blazes across Pike and Floyd Counties according to officials who stated that Coal Run, Hurricane Creek, Gulnare, Johns Creek, Prestonsburg, Shelby Valley and Dorton Fire Departments all responded to blazes.
Thankfully no one was killed and there are no reports of serious injuries associated with the fires; however the number of fires around the region combined with the deaths of ten people in a Bardstown house fire on Tuesday, has officials warning the public about the dangers associated with common household heaters, which may have contributed to several of the fires.
“A Couple of the fires were at older homes with older wiring” according to Randy Courtney, President of the Pike County Fire Fighters Association who continued saying that space heaters hooked into the older wiring could cause an “overload” the circuits.”
“You also need to be careful using those space heaters as rats or cats may get to the wires while the heaters are in storage and strip them bare” said Courtney “Just watch your space heaters and your kerosene heaters and make sure that there is plenty of room between them and other objects. Also be extremely careful when refueling a kerosene heater.
Local fire departments kept busy throughout the day on Tuesday February 6, battling blazes across Pike and Floyd Counties according to officials who stated that Coal Run, Hurricane Creek, Gulnare, Johns Creek, Prestonsburg, Shelby Valley and Dorton Fire Departments all responded to blazes.
Thankfully no one was killed and there are no reports of serious injuries associated with the fires; however the number of fires around the region combined with the deaths of ten people in a Bardstown house fire on Tuesday, has officials warning the public about the dangers associated with common household heaters, which may have contributed to several of the fires.
“A Couple of the fires were at older homes with older wiring” according to Randy Courtney, President of the Pike County Fire Fighters Association who continued saying that space heaters hooked into the older wiring could cause an “overload” the circuits.”
“You also need to be careful using those space heaters as rats or cats may get to the wires while the heaters are in storage and strip them bare” said Courtney “Just watch your space heaters and your kerosene heaters and make sure that there is plenty of room between them and other objects. Also be extremely careful when refueling a kerosene heater.
# posted by Justin Mullins @ 4:41 PM 
