EDITORIAL: Fatal home fires most likely in winter

The state woke up Christmas morning to hear of every homeowner’s nightmare: a fatal house fire.
The tragedy is unthinkable for the Stamford mother of the three young girls who died. One child was 10; the twins were 7. The horror was compounded by the loss of the woman’s visiting parents, residents of Southbury.
All five died of smoke inhalation. It was an accident. Sometime before dawn, a bag of fireplace ashes and embers was discarded near a first-floor entryway.
Seymour Fire Marshal Paul G. Wetowitz said the fire brings to mind three issues he’s confronted in his 35 years in the volunteer Seymour Fire Department, including 11 as paid fire marshal: smoke alarms, structural issues with chimneys and wood-burning stoves, and inappropriate disposal of ashes.
Older, single-family homes, typically, have fewer smoke alarms, he said.
"Structural issues with chimney and inadequate disposal of ashes occurs more often than people know," he said.
Wetowitz said homeowners should examine their chimneys by opening the fireplace flue and looking up.
They should walk outside the house to check the chimney for cracks in the masonry, and make sure it is vertical.
"We’ve had chimneys separate away from buildings," he noted.

Once, he said, a Seymour fire that killed two people may have been sparked after ashes from a wood stove apparently were placed in a paper bag, and left in the house.
Other times, people have thrown ashes into the woods or a plastic container alongside the house, resulting in fires.
Ashes and embers can remain hot for a day or two, he said.
The National Fire Protection Association (www.nfpa.org/winter) reports that December, January and February are the leading months for home fire deaths. It has tips to stay safe:
‰All heaters need space. Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, including a furnace, fireplace, wood stove or portable space heater.
‰Have a three-foot "kid-free zone" around open fires and space heaters.
‰Never use the oven to heat a home.
‰Have a qualified professional install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters or central heating equipment according to the local codes and manufacturer’s instructions.
‰Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
‰Remember to turn portable heaters off when leaving the room or going to bed.

‰Always use the right kind of fuel, specified by the manufacturer, for fuel-burning space heaters.
‰Make sure the fireplace has a sturdy screen to stop sparks from flying into the room. Ashes should be cool before putting them in a metal container with a lid. Keep the container safely away from the home.
‰Make sure to have working smoke alarms on every level of the home, inside each bedroom and outside each sleeping area.
‰Develop and practice a home escape plan that includes two ways out of each room and an outside meeting place.