Winter rolls around every year in New England and with the beautiful snowscapes comes a collective community responsibility to prevent tragedies.
Community officials and residents share a responsibility for providing the awareness and response needed to prevent cold weather freezing and fire deaths.
Firefighters are already doing their part by reminding tenants as well as homeowners to follow a few basic winter awareness safety tips.
The list includes getting home heating systems serviced and making sure space heaters are positioned well away from curtains, bedding and anything else that can catch fire.
Ovens should not be used to provide heat and kitchen sink drawers should be kept open to keep plumbing from freezing. The list of winter safety precautions is long and it extends to dressing properly and keeping pets safe.
In addition to warning residents to take precautionary measures, local communities should be prepared to respond quickly to heating emergency calls, including broken furnaces and pipes. School principals should reinforce winter safety tips with students and ensure language barriers do not prevent students from educating parents about basic safety precautions aimed at preventing fires or unsafe exposure to cold.
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Residents also have roles to play in preventing winter tragedies. Neighbors should check on seniors living in a neighborhood or apartment building to make sure they have heat and a way to get basic necessities.
They can also clear walkways and steps for neighbors and, in the process, perhaps become better acquainted with someone else living on their street or around the corner. The same rule applies to teenagers.
The days of youthful snow shovelers making their neighborhood rounds sounds like it belongs to a time long ago. But seniors and people with health limitations appreciate the help they get from able-bodied shovelers.
With holiday generosity reaching its height, people can also ensure organizations like Lynn Economic Opportunity (LEO) get help providing heating assistance to families who are hard-pressed to buy oil or natural gas for heating.
LEO’s heating assistance program relies annually on tax dollar support to help tenants and homeowners buy enough oil to heat their home through the winter. Sometimes the public money runs short and LEO caseworkers scramble to find other ways to keep homes warm.
It all boils down to appreciating winter as a season not to be endured but embraced as an opportunity to help others.