Fire safety for winter includes free smoke detectors for low income families

Photo credit: Moorhead Fire Department
Photo credit: Moorhead Fire Department

(Moorhead, MN) -- Moorhead's acting Fire Chief Jeff Wallin is focused on winter fire safety.  He says once again this year his department, along with the Red Cross, is offering free smoke detectors and installation to low income families. Wallin also says the annual time change happening this weekend is also the perfect time of year to check the batteries on smoke detectors and test them to ensure they devices are working properly.

"Some of the gasses being given off by a fire have a little bit of an effect to keep people in sleep and dull their senses and so if you think that you'll awake just by the sound or smell of a fire, you have a false sense of security.  We really need an alerting device to alert us to a fire when we are sleeping in the evening," said Wallin. 

He also says chimneys need to be cleaned once a year to remove accumulating silt and creosote which can create a fire hazard.  He also says hot ash from wood burning fire places should be placed in metal containers outside, at least ten feet away from the nearest home or building.