Experts say ‘National Fire Prevention Week’ is a perfect time to stress winter safety

WASILLA— The month of October is a time of transition from one season to the next.

“October is the month you check your batteries and check date on back of detector… This is the time of year people need to talk about exit routes,” Mat-Su Borough fire deputy director Ken Barkley said.

As residents of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough look toward winter, a sector of the community is working to ensure everyone is prepared for the winter season. This week is “National Fire Prevention Week” but to the firefighters, chimney sweepers, and the American Red Cross, October is whole month of fire prevention efforts.

Barkley said one of first lines of defense for household fires is smoke detectors. He said that the Red Cross will install smoke detectors in your home for free.

“So there really is no excuse,” Barkley said.

As of Sept. 30, the Red Cross installed more than 300 smoke detectors in various homes across the Valley, according to disaster program manager Bill Morrow

“You’d be surprised by how many who don’t want to do it,” Morrow said.

The Red Cross offers various forms of assistance for individuals and families affected by house fires. It offers financial support and housing arrangements to help relieve some of the common burdens people face during their transition from disaster.

As of Sept. 30, the Red Cross responded to 26 fires in the Valley alone, with 42 total cases across the state, according to Morrow.

Morrow said education and outreach are also important.

“This is ‘National Fire Week’ but it’s not just a week for us. We do the whole month,” Morrow said.

Forrest Smith is the new owner of Alaska Fire and Flue in Wasilla. He took over at the beginning of 2018. He said that since he’s started, the company has serviced more than 200 chimneys across the Valley. He said they found issues with about 10 percent of the chimneys and the most common issue was due to improper installation.

“Make sure there’s at least two inches of clearance between pipe and installation,” Smith cautioned.

Smith has more than 40 years of experience in oilfield in fuel transportation. He said that he’s worked all over the state and fire prevention was always a major part of his job. He was also a volunteer fire fighter in Nevada, emergency medical technician and hazmat responder. He’s seen and heard about many fires resulting directly from unkempt chimney. One year, his grandmother’s house burnt after a chimney fire.

“It’s fairly common. It’s more than a lot of people would think,” Smith said.

Smith said the National Fire Protection Association fire codes state that homeowners are required to have a level 1 inspection on their chimney annually. That includes the cleaning and all the inspections from top to bottom to ensure everything is functioning and placed property. There are more levels to chimney inspections and each one more in-depth and invasive than the last.

Smith noted that fire codes also requires property owners to inspect any chimneys on the property after changing hands. That requires a level two inspection, which is more in depth and requires some dissembling without any destruction.

Level three inspections are usually prompted after a chimney fire or major disaster, according to Smith. These inspections require some destruction and are meant to be very thorough.

Smith said that during a recent project he found pipe in contact with insulation. When it comes to fire prevention, there are many steps and various people involved. Fire prevention essentially starts during construction. Both Barkley and Smith stressed the importance of proper installation, and that any home that is not up to fire code is more likely to be part of an issue.

Smith noted that during the holidays, many people throw items such as wrapping paper or gift bags on the fire.

“You really don’t want to do that,” Smith said.

Smith said the inks used in wrapping paper, newspaper inserts, and magazines contain metals that can give off toxic fumes when burned. Also, paper burns very quickly, Smith said, so there’s also an inherit risk of embers entering the chimney that could ultimately ignite the creosote deposits in the flue.

Creosote is the commonly used term for any substance that is deposited in the chimney whenever a fire is burned. While some fires see higher creosote deposits than others, it’s an unavoidable part of using a fireplace so Smith advises everyone to personally inspect and maintain their chimneys from purchase to insulation and the remaining years on the premises.

Barkley said that chimney fires are not the top reason for house fires, but were definitely high up on the list and fairly common. Barkley said that the top two problems found with chimney-related cases are lack of annual cleaning and improper installation.

The Alaska Division of Fire and Life Safety recently published its Fire in Alaska 2017 online. The report contains data provided by 170 fire departments across the state. Fire loss estimates in the report included material damaged during extinguishment in addition to material actually damaged by the fire.

The report did not contain any Valley-specific data, but did include data from the various participating fire stations across the state by combining the participating fire departments from each community.

The was a total of a 339 fires causing approximately $2,204,906 in “fire dollars lost,” in the Butte, Central Mat-Su, Palmer, Houston, Talkeetna, and Willow fire departments.

According to Barkley, the top three, most common causes of fire typically seen here in Valley are unattended cooking, combustible material and improper heating to close to combustibles.

Barkley said he doesn’t think there have been any chimney related fires so far this fall, but after it gets colder and people start heating up their houses, Barkley said he is certain that will change.

Barkley said incidents such as household fires and automobile accidents typically increase this time of year. He also said there’s usually an annual spike of automobile accidents after the first snowfall.

“We fear the first snowfall,” Barkley said.

According to the data provided by the state there were 799 residential structure fires reported across the state in 2017. Those fires resulted in 18 deaths and more than 50 injuries, 31 to firefighters. The structure fires also resulted in a loss of an estimated $33.6 million dollars in property losses, according to a recent press release from the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

“The vast majority of the injuries and deaths experienced in Alaska due to fires were preventable and that is simply unacceptable. We can do better,” Alaska State Fire Marshal David Taylor stated in the release. “It is imperative that Alaskans protect their homes and families by using simple fire prevention measures like supervising all their cooking and being cautious of electric heaters and wood burning stoves.”