We wish you a Merry Christmas! Have a safe and happy holiday!

WINTER IS UPON US and the temps will just be colder and for longer. We have had several residential structure fires over the past week and want to put out a reminder that home heating requires some safety steps. Whether you heat with wood, electricity, or gas, it is up to you to do so safely. We want you to stay warm for what may be a long winter.

WOOD BURNING- If you use a wood fireplace – Be sure to have it cleaned and inspected regularly for proper operation. Creosote buildup can lead to chimney fires and eventual chimney failure. If you haven’t had your wood stove or chimney cleaned, make the call to get it done before snowy and icy weather arrives. Losing power for other heating in a storm or power outage increases your reliance on alternative heat sources for extended periods during the event. Act now to be ready for later.

ELECTRICITY – If you use electrical permanent electrical heat, be sure to have it serviced annually for safe operation, especially those that use heat strips. Portable heaters are temporary and require even more care to ensure they are UL-listed for safe operation, automatically shut if they turn over, and be sure to ensure they don’t operate near flammable fabrics or materials. And never use extension cords to connect your power to a portable heater, the cords cannot take the high voltage for as long and can fail easily.

GAS- Be sure to have gas (propane, natural gas, or kerosene) checked regularly for proper operation. Incomplete combustion could lead to carbon monoxide gas leaks (very deadly). Also use them only when you are present and in a place away from other flammable fuels or materials (clothing, fabric, furniture, etc). Never use heaters designed for outdoor use to be operated indoors. The risk of fire and exhaust gases increases substantially or could reduce the oxygen in enclosed rooms.

CHECK YOUR SMOKE AND CARBON MONOXIDE ALARMS – be sure you have good batteries in alarms intended to wake you from a fire. Test them monthly.

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS – Put a fire extinguisher in key places around your home where fires are most likely to occur. Add them near a fireplace or stove, put one near your stove or oven in the kitchen, including one in a garage or near flame appliances or fuel storage. Adding one near a grill or barbecue is a good thing too.

AND HAVE AN ESCAPE PLAN – Learn more about how you and your family can have a plan to get out quickly in the event of a fire.

Another Structure Fire this evening. This one is on Top Hill Road south of Burlingame Road. Our crews are wrapping up another chimney fire call after being dispatched after 4 PM this afternoon. We were able to contain the fire quickly and hope to be clear within the hour.

Thanks again to mutual aid partners ready to assist. Pulaski County Tanker Taskforce was initiated again for a fire in an area without fire hydrants within reach.

WPFD had three structure fire calls and two structure fires in 12 hours between last night and this morning. This has been a tremendous strain of work in a short period but it is made better with help from your friends.

When we suddenly get a large demand incident (requiring extra manpower and portable water supply) like a structure fire or woods fire, we pull our needed resources from each of our station areas to get the trucks and personnel onsite quickly.

We are appreciative of our established mutual aid partners who also help fill the gaps when time is critical. Their help is vital.

Thanks to Collegeville Fire, Salem Fire, and Crystal Fire for an assist on an early morning fire near Trinity Lane.

A little about this photo…this image has decades of experience by dedicated WPFD volunteers at a recent structure fire. The significance is that the two old guys Nathan and Phil, are career firefighters with lots of experience and a young officer, Josh on the right, gives it his all to be a better firefight and junior leader at his station.

Each of them are working for free, for you, and taking necessary risks to protect lives and save property. They use those skills working for their neighbors in the community they live in and we can’t do what is needed without guys (and gals) like them. Do you also donate your professional skills pro Bono, when you get home at the end of a long day at the office or your job? They sure do.

Because of their professional schedules, rarely are all three of these guys on the same fire at the same time. Another career guy not pictured was in the call too but wasn’t near by when the photo was taken.

We never celebrate the damage or loss that our neighbors face on a devastating wreck or fire. But a photo of the job, our work, our temporary office can indicate the monumental scale of the task and effort.It is part of the story we try to share.

You might notice not much smiling (ok, Nathan on the left has a slight grin from tired delirium or habit for a photo, but it isn’t a smile) here after 5 hours of fighting a flame-throwing dragon while attempting to save as much of a home or property as possible. They are tired and grateful to save as much of the home as they can. We are all grateful.

This photo captures just a few of our warriors at the end of a battle, not trophy hunters at the end of a hunt. They are seeking success at their assignment, not glory.