Fire Safety During the Winter Months

By Austin Hollister, Fire Safety Specialist

Ah, winter. We often dream about this time of year during the sweltering summer months and often long for snow-covered streets instead of the humid air on stifling subway platforms. However, winter provides many unique challenges, including ice and snow conditions, freezing temperatures, storm-related power outages, and much more. While there are numerous ways to help stay warm during this time of the year, the Weill Cornell Medicine Fire Safety division of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) wants to reiterate basic fire safety measures for your home and workplace. Per the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “heating, holiday decorations, winter storms, and candles all contribute to an increased risk of fire during the winter months.” ¹

Home-heating is a leading cause of fires and fire-related injuries in the home and often occurs during the winter months, primarily between December through February. Statistics show that between 2014–2018 most home heating fire deaths (81%)2 involved space heaters used to supplement heat within the home. (As a policy, space heaters are prohibited on campus.) To prevent a space heater from starting a fire in your home:

Always plug it directly into an outlet, not into a surge protector or extension cord.
Keep a minimum distance of three feet between the heating device and any combustibles to prevent accidental ignition. NPFA reported: “half of the home-heating fire deaths were caused by placing heating equipment too close to items that can burn, such as upholstered furniture, clothing, mattresses, or bedding.” ²
Look for a model with safety features that can help prevent fires, including an automatic shut-off, tip-over protection, and no open element.

The New York City Fire Department does not permit kerosene or propane space heaters in any commercial space in the five boroughs. Likewise, never use your oven or stove as a supplemental heat source for your home either, especially if you have gas-powered appliances that could cause carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.

A lit candle in the home may only be safe if you are present. “Candle fires peak in December and January, with 11% of candle fires in each of these months.” ³ Homeowners must be cautious when lighting candles in different areas of the home that could potentially be left unsupervised. Between 2015–2019, NFPA reported: “60% of home candle fires occurred when some form of combustible material was left or came too close to the candle.” ³ Remember to keep candles away from curtains, draping, and the edge of counters to prevent children from reaching for them. The candle’s flame should always be snuffed out before you leave your home or go to sleep.

Electrical fires are most frequent during the peak months of November to March2. An easy way to practice electrical safety is only to use extension cords as a temporary solution until a licensed electrician can install a new outlet if one is not present in the area. NFPA states: “Cords or plugs were involved in only 1% of home fires but 7% of the deaths. Extension cords dominated the cord or plug category.” ⁴

Make sure to plug in one heat-producing appliance (heating, cooking, and fuel-burning appliances) in an outlet at a time to prevent overloading the circuit. Surge protectors are only to be used for electronic devices that you wouldn’t want to be damaged in the event of a power surge like phone chargers, computers/laptops, printers, game consoles, etc. Refrain from plugging in high-demand appliances like refrigerators (including mini fridges), microwaves, toaster ovens, toasters, hairdryers, and curlers. This can cause the surge protector to overheat and catch on fire. Likewise, never plug an extension cord directly into a surge protector outlet to power a device, as the extension cord could be a higher rating than the surge protector permits. In addition to surge protector safety, refrain from plugging one surge protector into another (referred to as “daisy-chaining”). Daisy-chaining can overload the circuit within the home and overheat the surge protectors due to the numerous appliances plugged in at one time.

Weill Cornell Medicine Fire Safety Policy & Procedures

Weill Cornell Medicine Engineering and Maintenance (E&M) and Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) prohibit the use of space heaters within all WCM spaces. Please contact E&M if you need to report an issue with heating in your space.
EHS prohibits the use of candles throughout campus.
Never overload electrical outlets. Replace any electrical cord that is cracked or frayed. Never run extension cords under rugs. Use only power strips with circuit breakers.
Electricity generates heat which can cause a fire. The use of extension cords is not recommended. However, if used, the extension cords must remain visible to the occupants for inspection and not extend to adjacent areas (e.g., through doorways to adjacent rooms). Power strips should only be used for electrical equipment such as computers and printers, which typically do not draw large amounts of electricity.
Additional fire safety guides and building-specific fire safety plans and videos are available on the EHS website.

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