Bad Links?
Other glitches?
Notify Webmaster

There’s smoke, but no fire

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

Eight units from the Fayetteville and Fayette County fire departments raced to the Department of Family and Children Services at 9 a.m. Tuesday after dust from a furnace ignited and caused smoke to penetrate the building.

An employee turned the furnace on for the first time this year and dust from the furnace ignited inside the structure at 905 Ga. Highway 85 South and triggered the smoke alarm, DFCS spokeswoman Dena Smith said.

About 15 employees lined the outside as firefighters checked the building for fire. While the ordeal alarmed some, firefighters determined there was no fire — only smoke.

Fire officials say smoke scares sparked by inactive furnaces lit for the first time of the season are prevalent during colder months. But taking a proactive approach could prevent future alarm.

“Usually there can be a build up of dust and the homeowner or business owner may turn it on for the first time of the season and they may get a smoke smell from an accumulation of dust,” Fayetteville Fire Department Lt. Bill Rieck said.

Rieck urged residents who experience the same problem to turn off the furnace, and then call the fire department: “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Residents should have a licensed heating and air technician check their furnaces annually to eliminate the problem, Fayette County Fire Department Capt. Mitch Warren and Rieck agreed.

“The best thing to do is have a licensed heating and air contractor to come out,” said Warren whose department was charged with investigating the incident. The city fire department assisted in the effort as part of their joint Automatic Mutual Aid Agreement, officials said.

“They will clean and service their unit,” Warren said. “You run into this problem with gas furnaces a lot because it has a burning flame and it causes that dust to smolder and smoke, and then it goes out into the air system.

“They’re routine. It’s what we expect, but we still treat them as a structure fire because you can never be sure where the smoke is coming from.”

Rieck added residents should have their furnace checked once a year prior to the start of the heating season.

A representative from Maddox Heating and Cooling in Fayetteville said the cost to check a furnace starts at $68 for a home and $90 for a business.

While hiring a licensed air and heating contractor is important, Rieck said residents should go one step further.

“The second thing is to change their filters every month during the heating season,” Rieck said. Air filters for furnaces can be found at most area home supply stores, he added.