We are expecting a few hard freeze conditions this winter.
Please take the time to insulate exposed water pipes. Tubular foam insulating materials are available at most hardware and home improvement stores. If none are available, sheet plastic, newspaper, or towels secured by masking tape or duct tape can be effective.
Locate your home's water feed and drain valves in the event you have a pipe burst, or wish to drain your home's water pipes. These are generally located where the water pipe leaves the ground and ties into your home. The cutoff valve almost always has a faucet, which can be used as a drain valve, located above it just before the pipe goes into your home's outer wall.
Should your pipes freeze, DO NOT THAW WITH A FLAME! Use an electric hair dryer instead. Metal pipes are excellent conductors of heat and can transfer enough heat to the combustible materials they contact to cause a fire. Using a propane torch or other flame generating appliance in your attic or under your house can actually start a fire inside the walls.
Should you use portable space heaters, be sure to maintain a three foot radius between the heater and any combustible materials. Bedding and drapes are easily ignited. Although more fires start in the kitchen than any other room of the house, more fatal fires start in a bedroom.
Never light an unvented wood or charcoal fire in an enclosed space. Smoldering embers can literally consume all the oxygen in a house, asphyxiating those inside.
If electrical power goes out, do not place a generator inside, under the carport, or near the window through which you feed the power cord. Exhaust fumes can be deadly.
Finally, check on your neighbors, friends and family - particularly the elderly - to be sure they are safe from the cold. This is especially true if power outages result from winter conditions.
Contact: Eldon Ledoux Public Information Officer St. George Fire Protection District 13686 Perkins Road Baton Rouge, LA 70810 (225) 454-6573 or (225) 279-1493
Should your pipes freeze, DO NOT THAW WITH A FLAME! Use an electric hair dryer instead. Metal pipes are excellent conductors of heat and can transfer enough heat to the combustible materials they contact to cause a fire. Using a propane torch or other flame generating appliance in your attic or under your house can actually start a fire inside the walls.