Editorial: Beware fire not always friendly

It is that time of year again when I become used to hearing someone say, "It's that time of year again".

And in the case of the New Zealand Fire Service it is more than just a throwaway line - it is more a verbal underlining of the fact that we are edging closer to the time of the year when the need for heating comes under the household spotlight.

I looked back through my files of stories from autumns past and for the past five years I, and other reporters, have been called upon to give the Fire Service a ring to check out an incident all to do with heating a house ... or drying some clothes.

Our online Fire Service contact point reveals how long firefighters were actively involved at a particular scene - so when you spot reports stating anything from 20 minutes and longer you know it was more than bread stuck in a toaster.

At a brief glance, last autumn and early winter racked up at least half a dozen calls in response to material catching alight after being placed too close to heaters, chimney fires and one rubbish bin fire as the result of ashes being removed from the fireplace and dropped into an old shopping bag in the rubbish bin.

As one firefighter remarked - they may appear to be simply ashes but at the heart of the pile all it takes is "one little ember" clinging on. Now I suspect everyone has, at some stage, draped damp clothes or towels over the back of a chair and placed it near a fire, or heater, to get them dry by morning.

Fine, but it's the placement that's paramount. Fold out the clothes horse by all means, but keep it at bay from the sources of heat.

Heat and fire are our friends during the winter. But they very easily become enemies if we let them.