The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-12-11
Fire Marshal Warns
 Of Winter Hazards
inspection of Premises at Night, Furnaces, Carbon MOnOxide, Christmas Trees Included in Menaces

liberated. Tn our own city, we Of this off1ce upon several occasions have found carbon monoxide gas prevalent in apartment houses, and have taken action which brought about a change for the betterment and safety of the occupants. This Is part of our duty; we have the power and authority in such cases in the buildings of the city. But we lack Jurisdiction in the numerous gasoline propelled busses passing in and out of Waterbury. Why, be- cause the state law grants this power exclusively to the state utility commission, and that body in part passes the "buck" to the motor vehi- cle department. And yet 1t Is our own people, the public of Waterbury, who naturally would look to pro- lection from this source by way ot the Inarshal's ofilce. We are tell ing this to the people in advance of any particular happening, for In our minds, we are somewhat skep- tical of what might occur, and where there might be Q disposition on the part of some people to criti- else our inactivity in this respect.
 Instructions
 Switching to banked fires again, let us remind the public of the com. mon practice of placing fresh coal on the fire, and then closing of the draft and damper of the pipe. The new coal, being acted upon by the hot coals below, generate gases, largely carbon monoxide, which however cannot burn because of the lack of sufilcient air. With such conditions the mixture of readily combustible carbon Ynonoxide and air may completely fill the furnace or stove and even the chimney; only 0 flame Is required for an eX- ploSioh or Q flash under such cir. cun,stances. This flame might come when the fire burns through the blanket of coal. We are told by learned authority to leave a small spot of hot coals exposed. In this way, the gases will become ignited before they accumulate into dan- gerous quantities. We are told fur- ther that the proper way to bank the ordinary house heating furnace Is to pull the hot coals to the front of the fire box, letting them slant downward to the back of the fur. mace; then to put on fresh coal, leaving c spot of hot coals about the size of Q mans hand, uncov. cred nt the front; open the ports ir the firing door, and close of all bottom drafts, The damper should not be entirely closed. Even with these precautions slight puffs may occur, duo to poorly installed or corruded smoke pipes.
 Poorly adjusted oil burners or the use of an oil which clogs the smoke passages in the furnace and in the chimney will also result in incom. plete combustion, with possibilities of smoke being discharged through the doors and crevices. In addition to serious smoke damage, there Is c probability of Q smoke explosion.
 Christmas Trees |
 The Christmas tree season iS also here. Christmas trees are part and parcel of holiday tradition, but their highly infiainmable qualities should never be forgotten. No cotton should be used to represent snow, and worn and defective electric cords should not even be considered. And too 1t should be remembered that Christ. mas trees become drier and more inflamnable daily; we would like to see them out of every home by January 10. We have found them in buildings as late as the middle of summer. Our advice is to send them to the public dump" right after you have finished with them.