Weather Change Brings Potential Danger

By Craig Day, News On 6

UNDATED -- With the weather turning colder, many of us will turn our furnaces and heaters on for the first time this fall. It's a good time for a reminder about the potential for fire and when it comes to your furnace, clean is everything.

The News On 6 caught up with Chris Holm of Airco as he was inspecting a furnace in Broken Arrow on Wednesday. With the temperature dropping it's a busy time of year.

"Everyone begins to think of it at the same time.  Oh, I didn't get my furnace checked," said Holm.

Holm says with cooler weather on the way, now is a good time to have heaters serviced. He recommends a yearly checkup to make sure furnaces are working efficiently and safely.

"I had one time where a spider built a web inside a burner and if I hadn't found that it could have probably cooked some wires in the furnace," said Holm.

Dirty filters should be changed monthly. Dirty ones make the furnace work harder and can be a fire hazard. Also, a blue flame is good. Reddish-orange or yellow means there is likely dirt or rust in the burner and a technician needs to clean it.

"Something's got to be bad wrong for it to go yellow on natural gas," said Holm.

Holm says new furnaces have some built in safeguards, but regular checkups can limit the risk of fire.

A fire at the Washington Square shopping center in Bartlesville likely started when a furnace was turned on for the first time this fall.

"The first time you light them up, probably wouldn't hurt to hang around a while and make sure everything is OK, you know," said John Banks of the Bartlesville Fire Department.

In addition to furnaces, now is also a good time to think about floor furnaces and space heaters.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says 25,000 residential fires a year are caused by space heaters. Experts say a little time can save thousands of dollars later and possibly a life.

Technicians will also check to make sure there is the right gas pressure and proper venting to prevent carbon monoxide buildup.

Nothing should be within three feet of a space heater, floor unit or furnace.