This week’s cold weather carries potential danger with it as well as the usual inconveniences.
Homeowners and drivers need to take some precautions to survive the weather conditions.
Port Angeles insurance broker Ray Gruver said one thing homeowners must do is guard against frozen and broken pipes.
“As far as your home, when you leave maintain heat in the home to help keep pipes from freezing,” he said.
Methods to keep pipes from freezing include wrapping pipes, leaving cabinet doors open and the water running at a trickle and blocking vent holes in the home’s foundation where cold wind could reach exposed pipes, he said.
Garden hoses should be disconnected from outdoor hose bibs, Gruver said.
Once the snow clears, it also is important to clean out roof gutters to prevent ice dams, he said.
“Pay special attention to excess water that will result from melting of snow. Ensure that sump pumps are working and drains are running free, Gruver said.
Motor homes and recreational vehicles also should have their antifreeze drained and the water taken out of their systems, he said.
“Every year we have people with motor homes who forget to empty the holding tank,” Gruver said.
In frigid weather, people also often rely upon wood-burning stoves, Gruver said.
So they should be extra careful, especially if the chimney’s not been cleaned. Paper trash should not be burned in the fireplace, he said.
“People will try to create supplemental heat with space heaters, which causes overloaded circuits,” Gruver said.
“Another problem is using candles. Every year we have some kind of major fire loss when people are using candles.”
Firefighters around the North Olympic Peninsula also recommend:
* Use flashlights instead of candles to get around in the dark.
* Have working smoke detectors, preferably one in every room, with fresh batteries that are changed twice annually — including battery backups in units that are wired to the electrical system.
* Plug space heaters directly into wall outlets, not extension cords, and keep them as well as wood stoves two to three feet away from anything combustible.
* Don’t bring barbecues or hibachis inside the house for cooking or heating because of the building up deadly carbon monoxide gas.
* Don’t go to sleep with a fire in the fireplace.
* Empty fireplace ashes into a metal container and put them outside on a nonflammable surface, since those ashes can stay hot for up to a week.
* Don’t use the kitchen oven to heat the home because the oven gets hotter and hotter as it tries to reach its set temperature.
State troopers recommend that drivers check their car’s equipment, including tires, wiper blades, nonfreezing wiper fluid, lights, fluid levels (including gasoline) and belts and hoses.
Additional cold weather equipment should include tire chains, a snow shovel, first aid kit and a cellular telephone or citizens band radio.
Other items include important phone numbers, gloves, flashlight, an ice scraper, blanket, radiator antifreeze and nonperishable food.
The State Patrol also recommends listening to weather and traffic reports, allowing extra travel time, and telling someone where you are going and when you expect to return.
