Winter Weather Safety Tips

The Fort Wayne Fire Department wants everyone to stay safe and warm during winter weather and offers the following safety tips on how to best care for yourself and your family when temperatures plummet:

 

Protect Yourself:

·        Dress in several layers of lightweight clothing, which will keep you warmer than a single heavy coat.

·        Mittens provide more warmth to your hands than gloves.

·        Wear a hat, preferably one that covers your ears.

·        Wear waterproof, insulated boots to keep your feet warm and dry and to maintain your footing in ice and snow.

·        If working outside, take frequent breaks and stay hydrated.

Protect Yourself at Home:

·        Be careful with candles – do not use candles for lighting if the power goes out.  Use flashlights only.

·        Use generators correctly –never operate a generator inside your home, including the basement garage or porch. Run the generator as far away from the house as possible and point the exhaust away from open doors and windows to avoid potential carbon monoxide poisoning.

·        Install and/or check carbon monoxide detectors.

·        Prevent frozen pipes – when the weather is very cold outside, open cabinet doors to let warm air circulate around water pipes. Let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe – even at a trickle – helps prevent pipes from freezing.

·        Never attempt to thaw pipes using a blow torch or any open flame device.  Use warm water or a UL-listed device such as a hand-held hair dryer. 

·         Keep the thermostat set to a consistent temperature.

·         Check smoke alarms once a month by pressing the test button and replace batteries as necessary.

• Don’t forget your pets.  If you can’t bring them inside, provide adequate shelter to keep them warm and make sure they can get to unfrozen water.

• If you plan on using an alternate heating source, never use a stove or oven to heat your home. 

• Keep a glass or metal fire screen around the fireplace and never leave a fireplace fire unattended. 

• If using a space heater, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to safely use the heater.  Place it on a level, hard, nonflammable surface.  Turn the space heater off when you leave the room or go to sleep.  Keep children and pets away from your space heater and do not use it to dry wet clothing.

Preparing Your Pipes for Winter

Is there anything more frustrating than waking up on a cold winter morning to find that you have no water because the pipes have frozen?   Water pipes that are exposed to cold can freeze when the temperature drops to 20 or lower.

 

Taking a few simple steps before the snow flies can help protect your pipes.

 

 

Indoor Pipes

 

Inside you home, the pipes that are most vulnerable to freezing are those located in un-insulated spaces such as crawl spaces, basements, attics and garages, or in exterior walls.

 

Before cold weather arrives, insulate pipes in these exposed areas with foam insulation at a minimum.  If you have experienced frozen pipes in the past, consider wrapping those pipes with electrical heating tape and then insulating them.

 

If you can’t protect pipes before cold weather sets in, you may need to let the water run during very cold weather.  Remember, hot water pipes can also freeze, so let a small steady stream of lukewarm water run.  For sinks against outside walls, it may also help to open cabinet doors below the sink so warm air can circulate.

 

 

 

If you’re taking a winter vacation, don’t turn off the heat.  Leaving the thermostat set to at least 55 can help keep pipes from freezing.

 

Water Meter

 

Customers of Fort Wayne City Utilities are responsible for making sure the water meter is protected from freezing.  If the meter is in an unheated garage, keep the garage door closed to hold in as much heat as possible.  Protect the meter in a basement or crawl space by closing off crawl space vents and doors, repairing broken windows and making sure basement doors and windows close tightly.  You might also consider installing an insulated meter cover.  If the meter does freeze, City Utilities customers may be charged more than $130 for a replacement.

 

Gutters

 

Clean leaves and other debris out of the gutters so that they will be able to carry away melting snow and ice.  Leaves and other material can freeze in a downspout causing the downspout to burst or causing the gutters to overflow.  As part of cleaning the gutters, use a hose to spray a concentrated stream of water down the downspout to force out any potential blockages.

 

Exterior Faucets and Hoses

 

A dripping outdoor water faucet – also known as a hose bib or sill cock – can cause the faucet and water pipe that feeds it to freeze and break.  Many hose bibs installed today are frost –free.  If you have an older home turn off the water to the faucet inside the house if possible, then drain the faucet by turning it on for a few moments.  If there is no inside shut-off, consider putting an insulated cover over the hose bib.

 

Disconnect the garden hose.  Leaving the hose connected to the outside faucet can cause water to remain in the faucet.  If it freezes, it can burst the pipe.  Protect the hose itself by disconnecting and draining it, especially if you plan to leave it outside during the winter.  If the water freezes inside the hose it may cause the hose to split.

 

 

If a pipe does freeze despite all of your precautions, and you know where the freeze up is located, you may be able to thaw the pipe yourself, but it should be done slowly and carefully to avoid a pipe break.  One option is to use a hand-held hair dryer.  Blow the warm air over the pipe, keeping the dryer moving.  Another method is to wrap the frozen pipe with towels or rags and pour warm water over it.  This is messy, but may work.  Finally, make sure everyone in the house knows where the master water shut-off valve is located.  In case a pipe bursts, you can turn off the water.  The master shut-off is usually located near where the water line enters the house.  You may want to tag the valve with a bright color so you don’t have to search for it.

Board Meeting – Change of Address

Board Meeting next Monday, December 5th, at 7 p.m.  Address: 7223 Abington Road.  Everybody is invited!

Trick or Treat Hours

Monday, October 31st, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Leaf Pick-Up

Have your leaves ready on for pick-up by 7 a.m. on October 24th.   Put them on the strip and not on the curb.