A Note from the Fire Chief

It is that time of year when everybody wakes up in the morning and decides that it is cold in the house and does any number of things, turns up the thermostat, starts a fire in the fireplace or just gets a heater and plugs it in.

Here is a suggestion, take the time before you need any of the heating devices to make sure the furnace is going to work, there is fuel oil or propane in the tank, the chimney has been cleaned. A little time on the front end of the season could save a lot of time and dollars lost.

During this time of year we start getting chimney fire calls. We had a long winter last year, so before you start that fire, take the time to get an inspection done to make sure that there isn’t a bird’s nest in the chimney or something else restricting the chimney and that it is clean.

For those that use fuel oil to heat with, have someone come in and check the system out, clean the jets and replace the filters, you might be surprised on how much less fuel oil you use with a unit that is working properly.

For those using propane stoves for heating, have it inspected as most units do require an annual inspection, make sure the door or doors to the stove seal properly.

For those using electrical heaters please remember to take the time to take a vacuum cleaner to those baseboard and wall heaters. Over the year they both collect dust bunnies, playing cards and many other items that do not get found until the heater is turned on.

If you are using a plug-in heater remember to give at least 18 inches of space between the front of the heater and something being placed in front of the heater. This is also important for baseboard heaters to have this space because over time, continual heating to that bed, couch, chair or whatever is placed in front of the heater to ignite and start a fire.

Your Polson volunteer fire fighters to date have a department average of 96.04 training hours per member. They have given to the community, as of the end of August, 1,835 hours just handling calls.

They have responded to 165 calls as of the end of August. They are very committed to the community and ready to help when called. We want to thank all of you that have supported the department in so many ways.

I was out driving around looking for a property out on Rocky Point Road the other day and noticed that there are still a lot of properties that have not posted the address that can be seen from a distance. For those that have, thank you. For those that have not, please take a little time to get this done.

We have new members on the department and may not know where you live. They rely on the address being posted where it can be seen from a distance. Please help us out now, before you call for the ambulance, police or fire departments.

This area is very lucky to have the amount of volunteers that help various organizations. The volunteers train a lot and work hard to give the very best they can.

So when you see a volunteer from any of the departments, please let them know how much they are appreciated, because in this community, we need all the volunteers we have.

If you would like more information, please call your department or take the time to stop by and see them.