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Show Fewer Damaging Fires This Winter If You Check Heating Now "With cold weather approaching, approach-ing, your heating equipment should be checked and conditioned condi-tioned for safe winter service," warns Prof. Joseph Coulam, Utah State Agricultural College extension agricultural engineer. Fire strikes without warning and it is not particular where or whose property it destroys, he added. You cannot afford to give it a chance. At least 90 per cent of the $90,000,000 annual an-nual farm fira loss could" be prevented. pre-vented. The National Safety Council points out that during the heating heat-ing season defective chimneys rank high as a cause of farm fires. Repair cracks or other defects de-fects and replace rusted or burned out stove pipes, Prof. Coulam advised. See that combustible materials are protected or a safe distance from hot surfaces. Use a metal or asbestos floor covering under wood or coal burning stoves. Use double metal ventilated thimbles where stovepipes pass i through frame walls or partitions. parti-tions. Farm fires are also staned by sparks on roofs. A spaik aires-tor aires-tor on your chimney will elimi- i, nate this risk. Such hazard can ' also be reduced by installing aS fire-retardant roofing. c-jj Other farm fires are due to the misuse of petroleum and its n products. Every time you -use Cp gasoline, keros-ne, or tractor 0 fuel to start or hasten a fire you invite disaster. Don't gamble D with leaky connections, defet- )l tive equipment, or poor adjustment adjust-ment on kerosene stoves or oil W burning furnaces, the extension the specialist advised. f Tank heaters, feed healers or he any other type of heating .equip- , k ment around your farmstead L should also be checked carefully. exte See that they are in good condi- was tion and installed safely. De- M fective tank heaters, or instal- in lations too close to buildings, as straw or other flammable ma- 26, terials lead to many costly win- life |