Fire Officials Offer Safety Tips After 3 Recent Fires in Monroe

The Monroe Volunteer Fire Department is reminding residents of common sense fire safety tips after three fires have been reported in Monroe following the fire at a historic home on Hammertown Road in late November.

One of the fires involved an unattended candle that ignited holiday decorations and the fireplace mantel at a home on Brook Street. The homeowner was alerted by smoke alarms and able to use a fire extinguisher to contain the fire.

The second fire on Lover’s Lane was caused by a spark from a wood burning stove that ignited a wood pile stored too close to the stove in the family room. The family dog and smoke alarms alerted the sleeping resident who put water on the fire and removed the burning logs from the home.

Finally, an oven fire on Richards Drive was contained and no further damage was caused.

In each case, volunteer firefighters ensured the fires were completely out and ventilated the smoke from the homes.

Monroe fire officials offer the following safety tips:

• Residents not to leave candles unattended and blow them out when leaving a room. Decorations and other items should be kept far from candles and other heat sources. Residents should have at least one all-purpose (labelled ABC) fire extinguisher in the home which can be used if it is safe to do so. The extinguisher must be checked periodically to make sure the gauge shows “full” or “charged”.
• Residents should not leave cooking unattended, particularly when using a stovetop. It is also common to put an oven in self-cleaning mode following a big holiday dinner. Because high heat is used to burn off the grease, residents should first manually remove as much grease as possible before using the self-cleaning mode. Prior to pre-heating an oven, make sure any combustibles are removed such as oven mitts, towels, or foil.
• It is absolutely critical to have working smoke alarms throughout the home, including at least one on each level including the basement, and one in each bedroom to make sure sleeping occupants will be awakened.

Image via Monroe VFD, Firefighters operate at the Lover’s Lane fire incident