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Avoid Dryer Fires
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suggested reading... |
Downed Power Lines can be lethal |
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During the recent wind storms several Mayne Island
residents played a deadly game of chance with downed power
lines. This can have deadly consequences. Just because a
Hydro line is down does not mean it is dead. Downed lines
can still be energized, can become re-energised through
automatic switching or generator connections, and can
radiate electrical energy many metres through the ground.
You do not want to be there when that happens. Please ... never approach a downed line; stay back at least 10 metres; and assume that the line and anything it touches - including the ground - is energized. If you see a downed power line call 911 and report the location from a safe distance and warn others to stay back! Rubber tires or boots are no guarantee that you will be insulated from a downed power line. Tires or rubber boots will conduct high voltage electricity through your body or the frame of a vehicle. If that happens, it can become a first responder call or fire that is difficult to manage. Until BC Hydro has confirmed the line is de-energized, the fire/rescue crews can do little to help. This can take several hours and the consequences can be lethal. Also, check out BC Hyrdo's Home Outage Preparation page for reccomendations of how to prepare for and safety precautions for power outages. |
Home fire drill could save your life |
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Creosote &
Chimney Fires:
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What You Must Know
about Airtight
Woodstoves - reducing creosote & Chimney Fires |
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Inspection & Cleaning will prevent most serious chimney fires  |
Fireplaces and wood stoves are designed to
safely contain wood-fuel fires, while providing heat for a
home. The chimneys that serve them have the
job of expelling the byproducts of combustion – the
substances produced when wood burns. These include smoke,
water vapor, gases, unburned wood particles, hydrocarbon
volatile, tar fog and assorted minerals. As these substances exit the fireplace
or wood stove, and flow up into the relatively cooler
chimney, condensation occurs. The resulting residue that
sticks to the inner walls of the chimney is called creosote.
Creosote is black or brown in appearance. It can be crusty
and flaky…tar-like, drippy and sticky…or shiny and hardened.
Often, all forms will occur in one chimney system.
Whatever form it takes, creosote is
highly combustible. If it builds up in sufficient quantities
– and catches fire inside the chimney flue instead of the
firebox of the fireplace or wood stove – the result will be
a chimney fire. Although any amount of creosote can burn,
sweeps are concerned when creosote builds up in sufficient
quantities to sustain a long, hot, destructive chimney fire.
Certain conditions encourage the
buildup of creosote. Simply put, restricted air supply,
unseasoned wood and cooler-than normal chimney temperatures
are all factors that can accelerate the buildup of creosote
on chimney flue walls. Air supplies on fireplaces may be
restricted by closed glass doors or by failure to open the
damper wide enough to move heated smoke up the chimney
rapidly (the longer the smoke’s "residence time" in the
flue, the more likely is it that creosote will form). A wood
stove’s air supply can be limited by closing down the stove
damper or air inlets too soon and too much, and by
improperly using the stovepipe damper to restrict air
movement. Burning unseasoned wood – because so much energy
is used initially just to drive off the water trapped in the
cells of the logs– keeps the resulting smoke cooler, as it
moves through the system, than if dried seasoned wood is
used.
In the case of wood stoves, fully
packed loads of wood (that give large cool fires and 8 or 10
hour burn times) also contribute to creosote buildup. Cool
flue temperatures speed creosote production, too.
Condensation of the unburned byproducts of combustion occurs
more rapidly in an exterior chimney, for example, than in a
chimney that runs through the center of a house and exposes
only the upper reaches of the flue to the elements.
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suggested
reading: |
| How To: Easily Start a Fire Every Time with Less Smoke | Chimney Inspections Explained | |
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Wouldn’t it be great if there was
a way to easily start a fire every time with less smoke?
It’s possible, But you will have to discard your previous
experience and approach this new method with an open mind.
Most people learned the old “log cabin” style of building a
fire with the smallest kindling at the bottom. You are
about to learn the top-down method, which is exactly the
opposite of what you were taught. |
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Another very useful and informative Fire Safety Website is 'The Renters Guide' Check out the "Fire Prevention and Response" and "Home Poison Guide" tabs, espcially go to the Virtual Kitchen - this is great! This safety oriented website was shared with Mayne Island Fire Rescue by Jeff, a student in grade 4. Jeff's teacher, Sarah has used our very own Fire Safety Tips page for her safety lessons and Jeff was inspired to search out and learn more about fire safety in the home! Thank you Jeff and Sarah, your helping to educate others on the need and benefits of home and fire safety is greatly appreciated. |