Clackamas Fire District Urges Heating Safety as Temperatures Drop

As overnight temperatures settle into the 30s and 40s across the area, Clackamas Fire District is renewing its annual push on home heating safety, a message the district and fire agencies nationally repeat every year for a simple reason: heating equipment is consistently one of the leading causes of house fires during the colder months, and most of the incidents involved are preventable with basic precautions.

Space heaters draw the most attention in these seasonal warnings, and for good reason — portable electric and propane heaters account for a disproportionate share of home heating fires nationally, largely because of how and where people use them. Fire officials recommend keeping anything portable at least three feet away from furniture, curtains, bedding, and anything else that can burn, and never leaving a space heater running unattended or overnight in a room with nobody awake to notice a problem. Plugging a space heater directly into a wall outlet rather than an extension cord or power strip is another frequently repeated piece of advice, since heaters draw enough current that an undersized cord can overheat on its own.

Furnaces and central heating systems get less attention than space heaters in public messaging, but they come with their own seasonal checklist. Fire officials recommend having a furnace professionally inspected before heavy use each winter, changing air filters on a regular schedule, and keeping the area around any furnace or water heater clear of stored boxes and clutter that tend to accumulate in utility closets and basements over the rest of the year. A furnace that's been sitting unused since last winter can develop issues that aren't obvious until it's running at full capacity on the season's first genuinely cold week.

Wood stoves and fireplaces carry their own set of seasonal reminders, particularly around chimney maintenance. A chimney that hasn't been cleaned since the previous winter can accumulate creosote buildup, which is a real fire risk once regular use resumes. Fire districts generally recommend a professional chimney inspection and cleaning at least once a year before the stove or fireplace sees regular use, along with keeping a close eye on ash disposal — hot ash should go into a metal container, not directly into a household trash bin, where it can smolder undetected for hours.

Carbon monoxide gets folded into the same seasonal messaging, since it's a heating-season risk that's easy to overlook precisely because it's invisible and odorless. Any fuel-burning heating equipment — furnaces, wood stoves, generators used during power outages — produces carbon monoxide as a byproduct, and proper ventilation is what keeps it from building up indoors. Fire officials recommend a working carbon monoxide detector on every level of the home, particularly near sleeping areas, with batteries checked regularly alongside smoke detector maintenance.

Clackamas Fire District's broader seasonal messaging also touches on generator safety for anyone preparing for potential storm-related outages later in the season — generators should always run outdoors, well away from windows and doors, never in a garage even with the door open, since carbon monoxide can accumulate quickly in partially enclosed spaces. The district points to this time of year, right as heating equipment comes back into regular use after months of disuse, as the highest-value window for households to run through these checks, rather than waiting until a problem shows up on the season's coldest night.

Residents with specific questions about heating equipment safety, or who want a home safety check, can reach out to the district directly, and general heating safety guidance is also available through the district's website and seasonal public outreach materials distributed at community events and local fire stations.