By Jennifer Theurer

The holidays mean decorations, cooler weather, and gathering with others but Clay Center Fire Chief John Ihnen urges citizens to also be safe this season.

That full Thanksgiving dinner can mean the oven is on for several hours. If it is a gas range, it could set off the carbon monoxide detector.

“If that happens, call the fire department,” Ihnen said. “We will happily go through the home with a gas detector to see if there’s a problem or if it’s just from cooking all day with your oven.”

Having the oven on all day can make a furnace more efficient but so can replacing your furnace filters regularly. Furnace filters are an important part of keeping a home warm in winter and Ihnen said now is a good time to replace them, clean them, and make sure they’re in there.

Some rooms need a space heater to chase the chill away and while Ihnen says they’re fine he wants people to be sure the unit is sitting on a stable surface where it can’t tip over. He also emphasized that a person should shut off and unplug the space heater any time they leave the house and never use an extension cord to plug one in.

“Extension cords are not built for that, and a space heater takes quite a bit of energy,” he said.

Extension cords are a great way to power a Christmas light display but not when plugged into a surge protector. Ihnen cautions those wrapped up in the Christmas spirit to keep from plugging a surge protector into an extension cord or plugging a surge protector into a surge protector.

Surge protectors and extension cords plugged into an outlet are great solutions for Christmas tree lights but live trees must be watered very well as a dry tree covered in electricity is a bad combination, he said.

Ihnen also said if anyone has questions or concerns about their carbon monoxide detector, their home’s heating system, or light displays, they are welcome to call the fire station.