I happened upon an article in the paper yesterday that saddened me. My previous post concerned getting ready for the winter and my concerns about my heating source. This newspaper article is about another issue that is important as the seasons change and that is fire safety and old houses.

Fire safety is an issue no matter what type of home you live in, new or old, and no matter what the season is. It is an issue everyone should be concerned about, but modern homes have the advantage of going through inspections and adhering to modern building codes that old houses were not subject to. Most old houses have never received an official inspection unless they received an extensive restoration.

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I am going to mention a few areas that owners of old homes should check as the weather gets colder.

Fireplaces, wood stoves, and chimneys

Space heaters

Smoke Detectors

Clearance

I am out of space for this entry, but this is a very serious subject especially this time of year. The area I live in is full of old houses and it seems like every other week during the winter I hear about one burning down. I invite anyone who reads this to add to my list of items to check in an old house to prevent fires. Old wiring and dryer vents come to mind as well, saving old houses is important, but educating people and saving lives is the real issue here.