Photo courtesy of Taylor-Snowflake Fire & Medical During the Christmas holidays, Taylor-Snowflake Fire & Medical responded to three structure fire calls. The Dec. 26 fire at this home was caused by putting ashes in a trash container sitting against it.
By Naomi Hatch Taylor-Snowflake Fire & Medical (TSFM) responded to three fires Christmas week whose origins were traced to heating sources, causing Assistant Fire Chief Willie Nelson to warn area residents, “Be cautious how you heat your home.” “Wood stoves need to be installed properly,” said Nelson, noting that they must be located the proper distance from walls and combustibles. “Using burners on a stove for heating creates problems. “Be cautious throwing away coals and ashes,” he continued, citing the case of a woman who threw away coals in the wind. The wind blew the coals under the subfloor of the home, which caught fire, causing significant damage. “Ashes will smolder for a lot longer than people realize. Anytime you’re dealing with heating equipment, wood stoves or ashes be cautious.” On Christmas Eve a fire started out east of town. It was windy that night, which was the most likely cause of the fire that involved a wood stove. The fire appears to have started around the stove, and eventually fully engulfed a doublewide trailer. TSFM got the call at approximately 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Because of the windy conditions and the fact that it was a mobile home, the fire took off really quickly, said Nelson, noting that they lost some animals in the fire. It took firemen until 4 a.m. to get that fire out. On Christmas Day, a call was placed by an elderly woman who couldn’t see and was trapped in her kitchen and couldn’t see due to smoke. “When we got there she’d made it to the back porch,” said Nelson. Firefighters got her off the porch and the ambulance transported her to the hospital as a precaution. The fire started in the kitchen, according to the assistant chief, who explained that it was a cold night, and they believe she was using the stove for heating. They suspect that the burner caught something nearby on fire. “So when we got there, it had gotten into the kitchen cabinets and it was extending. We got the fire out before it spread into any other rooms,” he said. The fire was at a home on Reidhead and it was a difficult address to find. Nelson encouraged everyone to have addresses clearly marked on their homes. The day after Christmas, Saturday, Dec. 26, there was a fire in a plastic trash container. The dumpster, which was sitting against the house, caught on fire. The homeowners pulled the hose out, but it was frozen. One of the occupants had been through some fire training and had a pretty big fire extinguisher, and was able to knock the fire down. “By the time we got there it was just smoldering,” said Nelson. “Everything worked out good with that fire. It didn’t spread into the house.” Even so, the staff of Taylor-Snowflake Fire & Medical encourage everyone to be cautious regarding their heating sources, especially during this winter season.
