With consistent cold weather, space heaters and other strategies to warm your home can put it at risk for a fire. According to the National Fire Protection Association, there is an increased risk of house fires during the winter. And house fires can create another problem for nearby residents.
“Some of these recent fires that we’ve had in Colorado and California burn through cities and when you burn houses, you get very toxic emissions because of the building materials,” said Shane Murphy, an air quality researcher at the University of Wyoming. “That is actually a whole other field of study that people are just starting to look into really. What are those emissions made out of, what’s in there, how bad is it for you.”
Emissions from house fires contribute to pollution and can negatively impact air quality close by. If there is a house fire in your neighborhood, air filters can help improve the air quality in your home.
“There are now relatively inexpensive ways to filter the air in your house. You can buy a good $100 air filter or you can actually build one out of a box fan,” Murphy said.
To prevent house fires, it is recommended to keep anything flammable at least three feet away from heat sources like fire places. The U.S. Fire Administration also recommends testing smoke detectors once a month.