BURRILLVILLE – With temperatures starting to get a little milder and oil prices on the rise, I’ve been told by quite a few family members and friends that they are forgoing oil deliveries and breaking out their space heaters to heat their apartments and homes. They are shutting down their furnaces for long periods of time during the day and only turning them back on when they need hot water, and scheduling their entire days and evenings around furnace usages. This is why it is extremely important to remind kids and families about space heater safety and burn prevention.
Kids should always stay at least three feet away from space heaters to avoid burns. Adults should always keep space heaters away from doorways and room exists, especially bedrooms and kitchens. This Sunday feature is a great way to color with your young children and discuss space heater burn prevention while they are still in usage. Soon, they will be put back into storage but with heating costs so high, I’m sure many of you reading this article are using yours right now with your furnaces turned off.
The Fearless Dino Protector Squad, firefighters dinosaurs with fire apparatus tails and cool firefighting names, have been educating kids about fire safety and burn prevention for 30 years while engaging families with coloring and activities formats that help prevent unintentional injuries and save lives. Spring is just around the corner and space heaters will be put away until next fall. Until then, please stay fire safe and help prevent child related burns.
Jim Weicherding is a Burrillville resident, and the founder and creator of an award-winning traffic safety effort Seasons of Safety. Weicherding contributes kids’ coloring cartoons, which can be printed and used to help parents discuss safety issues with their children. He has a long list of police officers and firefighters in his family and has worked with law enforcement and firefighters in a creative public safety capacity for more than two decades.
