It’s been a busy year for area firefighters with 12 structural fires fought in Old Forge, Eagle Bay, and Inlet alone since the first of the year, according to Jason Pallotta, assistant fire chief of the Inlet Fire Department.
“People who have been in the department for 30 years don’t recall that many fires in one year. Fortunately, nobody has gotten hurt or been trapped—which is a good thing—but we’ve been on calls where smoke detectors are not present or not working in the house,” Pallotta said.
He said he wished he had a dollar for every time he walked into a house and saw wires hanging out of the ceiling where the smoke detectors were taken out because they needed new batteries and were not replaced.
“You see the mounting bracket, but the detector is gone. Smoke detectors aren’t going to prevent a fire, but if there is a fire they are going to help you get out,” Pallotta said.
With the last couple of fires determined to have been electrical in nature, Pallotta advises that homeowners follow some precautionary tactics.
He said electrical fires can be caused by extension cords running underneath furniture or underneath carpeting, overloaded circuits and overloaded extension cords.
“You shouldn’t run anything through an extension cord permanently,” he advised.
Citing examples of some of the fires, he said that one was believed to have been caused by a short in a lamp’s electrical cord. The source of a New Year’s eve structural fire was a woodstove that, according to the owner, had not been cleaned.
“It’s important this time of year to have your chimney cleaned. Furnaces should also be cleaned once a year and inspected by a professional,” he added.
Although National Fire Prevention Week was observed October 9–15, Pallotta said that everyone should be reminded to change the batteries in their smoke detectors on Sunday, November 6, the day the clocks are turned back one hour.
Pallotta said that if anyone, especially an elderly person or a person of special needs, requires assistance in changing the batteries in their smoke detector, or if anyone has questions about fire safety, they are encouraged to call the Inlet Fire Department at (315) 357-6601.
