Fire Chief Talks Safe Home Heating As Temperatures Drop

With a predicted high of 33-degrees on Friday, winter in Wisconsin is undoubtedly
on its way. That also means people are looking for ways to keep their homes
warm. Fond du Lac Fire Chief Peter O’Leary reminds people to use common sense
and make sure the house is properly ventilated. 

He says when it comes to heating a home, “sometimes people take drastic measures to do that, but again, any type of
heating equipment that creates carbon monoxide has to be well ventilated. So
putting kerosene heaters inside your home is not a good move – making sure that
you have things well ventilated and that your furnace has been checked.”

O’Leary adds that when it comes to carbon monoxide issues, “we do get calls from people with high readings – they have a malfunction in their furnace. We were just on another one over the past weekend that could’ve been fatal if it went undetected. So those alarms do help. They do not take the place of a maintenance program for your furnace. That is not an end-all, be-all. You want to make sure you have those safety precautions, but you want to make sure you have things checked by a reputable person.”