Our CSLEA members with CAL FIRE are reminding all of us to be fire safe this winter as we warm up our homes.  Firefighters see a big spike in home heating fires in December, January and February and most can be prevented.

"Our CSLEA members who are deputy fire marshals, fire service training specialists, even our CAL FIRE Comm Operators, know the dangers home heating devices can present if not used properly," said CSLEA President Alan Barcelona.  "They're the experts in their field and care enough to educate and remind all of us how to play it safe."

CAL FIRE offers the following fire safety tips:

• Keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away from heating equipment such as a furnace, fireplace, woodstove or portable space heater.

• Have a 3-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.

• Always turn portable heaters off when leaving a room or going to bed.

• Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to prevent sparks from escaping.

• Allow fireplace ashes to completely cool before disposing of them. Place in a tightly covered metal container at least 10 feet away from your home and any other nearby buildings. NEVER empty fireplace or woodstove ashes directly into a trash can.

• Never use your oven to heat your home.

• If using fossil fuel heating, install and maintain carbon monoxide (CO) alarms to avoid the risk of CO poisoning. Make sure your home has working smoke alarms as well.

For more information on safe home heating visit the CAL FIRE website at www.fire.ca.gov.