Aidan Curtis
THE Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) is reminding people to stay vigilant to prevent house fires this winter as part of Home Fire Safety Week.
MFS Mount Gambier station officer Adrian Puust said house fires are often preventable by being proactive in testing smoke detectors and making sure heaters are well maintained.
“Make sure you don’t have any furniture or clothing too close to the heater itself, especially during winter if you’re trying to dry clothes,” he said.
“If your smoke detector is more than 10 years old, replace it.
“All common sense stuff, but we all need reminding on it and sometimes we just get busy and put off doing maintenance and checking heating equipment.”
Mr Puust said even something as simple as regularly cleaning the lint trap in the tumble dryer could prevent a future house fire.
“We need to be a bit more diligent as householders and make sure our houses are safe because we can prevent most fires,” he said.
“When someone has a house fire, even a minor fire, all the soft furnishings will need to be cleaned or replaced, they can be without a house for several weeks, if not months.
“And I’m talking up to 18 months if it’s a significant fire, especially with builders being so busy.”
Mr Puust recommended other actions to help prevent house fires including cleaning out the flue for combustion heaters, not leaving electric blankets on all night, and stocking up on extra blankets to avoid using heaters overnight.
Home Fire Safety Week kicked off on Friday, June 2.