The New Canaan Fire Department is holding a free drawing this month for four metal ash disposal buckets, courtesy of New Canaan Firefighters Local 3224 and Weed & Duryea. Entry forms can be obtained at Weed & Duryea, the firehouse on Main Street or requested via email by sending your name, address and phone number to newcanaanfirefighters@hotmail.com. The drawing will be held Dec. 16.
This is what a proper fireplace ash disposal bucket looks like.
Here are safety tips from the New Canaan Fire Department on fireplace ashes. Embers can remain active for five days, and ashes must be removed to a metal container with a tight lid for safe disposal. The container then must be removed to an outside area away from a structure or anything combustible.
- Let’em wait! What’s the rush? It’s a fireplace/wood stove/grill and fire pits. Fires actually burn better with a bed of ashes.
- Be mindful that several of the past experiences with improper ash disposal have involved housekeepers or care takers being “helpful” and cleaning out the fireplace and then placing the ashes in the trash.
- If you insist, use an approved metal container with a tight lid. These are available at Weed and Duryea and other home goods locations.
- Also little known is the fact that if the improperly disposed of ashes don’t set your house on fire, they can ignite in the garbage truck which is a real quagmire as the truck must quickly dump the load, wherever they are, in the street! That is the true definition of a MESS!
- And if they don’t erupt in the garbage truck, they can create quite a problem when they ignite at the Recycling Center/Transfer Station.
- Make sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to safe guard against any fire or carbon monoxide situation.
For additional information regarding this, or any other fire safety topic, please contact the New Canaan Fire Department at 203-594-3140 or the New Canaan Fire Marshal’s Office at 203-594-3030.