Getting chilly outside… it’s heater time

Flickr photo via mattdans

It’s getting pretty chilly outside lately (about 45 degrees this morning in Echo Park!), and a lot of us are turning on our heaters for the first time this winter. Be careful – heating fires are the second leading cause of all residential building fires, behind cooking fires.

This weekend in Echo Park, our friend Jesús Sanchez of The Eastsider LA had an unfortunate and personal experience when his duplex, which he rents out, was damaged when a fire broke out near a floor furnace. “I have covered numerous fires as the publisher and author of The Eastsider but never one involving my own property,” writes Jesús. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but the duplex was damaged.

Firefighters also told him that it was also the second furnace fire of that night in Echo Park. And now that Thanksgiving is approaching, make sure you check the batteries in your smoke alarms and double check those directions for that deep-fried turkey.