Smokey Bear’s New Year’s Fire Safety Resolutions for 2013

The CAL FIRE San Bernardino Unit and Smokey Bear want to wish you a safe and prosperous 2013. To help with that, Smokey Bear has provided his 2013 New Year’s fire safety resolutions;

1. First and foremost, always think fire safety.

2. As we begin the New Year with very cold weather, please remember to be careful in how you heat your homes. Heating fires are a major cause of home fires in the United States. If you use portable space heaters, remember to follow all safety requirements and never use or leave it near anything that might catch fire.

3. Make sure that your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are working and if not, get them fixed or replaced. It’s a small cost to help protect your family.

4. If you like to use your fireplace regularly, make sure that it is properly cleaned and don’t overload it with wood. If you clean out the ashes from the fireplace, you should place them in a metal container, water them down and place the container away from the home and garage. Ashes can still be hot enough to ignite even if they appear to be totally out.

5. It’s never too early to begin thinking about clearing your property. Planning now will make the job easier when you begin the process in a few months.

6. Smokey says “always plan to be fire safe in whatever you do this year. Think about where you are and what you are doing and what could happen if you are careless with fire. Those few extra moments thinking about fire safety could mean the difference in preventing a fire from starting that might endanger you, your loved ones, property and the environment.”

To find more fire safety tips and suggestions you can go to www.fire.ca.gov or http://www.readyforwildfire.org/