Heed safety precautions when using heaters

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January 7, 2025

Space heaters and fireplaces can help keep temperatures comfortable during cold weather. However, all types of heating equipment can be fire hazards if safety precautions are not taken.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, home heating fires happen most often in December, January and February, accounting for almost half of all home heating fires. Heating equipment is the second leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries, and it is the third leading cause of home fire deaths.

“Space heaters and other types of portable heaters are a great way to heat a single room, or supplement a building’s main heating system, or even make outdoor activities more comfortable
when temperatures are colder than normal,” said Leslie Woolington, Mississippi State University Extension Service risk management and loss control manager. “But you need to make sure you use them safely.”

Woolington suggested safety precautions for using an electric, propane or fuel-fired space heater, either indoors or outdoors:

Keep heaters at least 3 feet away from anything that can burn, including upholstered furniture, bedding, curtains, clothing, insulation, cardboard and papers.
Never leave heaters on when unattended. Turn heaters off, unplug electric heaters, and turn off portable propane cylinders when leaving the area.

People should take the same precautions with fireplaces. The National Fire Protection Association recommends taking these additional precautions when using any type of heating equipment:

Ensure children and pets stay 3 feet away from heating equipment.
Have chimneys and heating equipment cleaned and inspected by a professional once a year.
Have stationary heaters, water heaters and central heating equipment installed by qualified professionals.
Always use the fuel specified by the manufacturer for fuel-fired heaters.
Use a sturdy fireplace screen to keep sparks from flying into the room. Allow ashes to cool before putting them in a metal container. Keep the container a safe distance from the house.
Test smoke alarms at least once a month.

Mississippi’s Chief Deputy Fire Marshal Connie Dolan said space heaters should only be used as a supplemental source of heat.

“Space heaters are intended only to give your home a little more heat when needed,” Dolan said. “They can easily overload circuits, causing a power failure or fire.”

Dolan pointed out that electric space heaters require a lot of power to run and draw high currents, which is why they should always be plugged directly into a wall outlet.

“Small-gauge, low-quality extension cords cannot handle the high currents that space heaters use,” she said. “Many space heaters draw around 1,500 watts or more and should never be used with an extension cord. The high currents of electricity going through an extension cord can cause the extension cord’s insulation to melt, which could lead to a fire.”

When purchasing an electric space heater, Dolan said consumers should look for units with these features:

A tip-over safety switch. This switch automatically turns the heater off if it is tipped over.
An Underwriter’s Laboratory, or UL, mark. This mark is the most common independent safety certification in the U.S. and indicates the device has been tested and approved.
A thermostat. Thermostats let the user set a temperature and allow the heater to turn off when the desired temperature is reached.
A long power cord. Make sure the cord is long enough to allow the heater to be a safe distance away from anything combustible.
A sturdy handle. This allows the heater to be safely moved.

When using a fuel-fired space heater, Dolan offers these safety tips:

Use fuel intended for indoor use. Never use gasoline. Safe types of fuel are propane, kerosene and natural gas. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when filling a heater with fuel.
Never use an unvented, fuel-fired space heater indoors. These heaters can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, which can lead to death. They can also emit nitrogen oxide, which can cause respiratory problems.
Use sealed combustion units. These are much safer to operate than other types of fuel-fired space heaters.
Hire a professional to install vented gas heaters near an outside wall. Have these heaters professionally inspected once a year.
Install a carbon monoxide detector if using any type of fuel-fired space heater.

For more information about heating safety and other fire safety measures, visit the National Fire Protection Association website at https://bit.ly/2IrQjrk.

Starting Onions Indoors

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Guest Columnist

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January 7, 2025

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If grown from seed, onions need to be started indoors 10 to 12 weeks prior to the transplant date. Onions are typically planted in mid- to late-March to avoid the summer heat. Place seeds ½ to 1-inch apart in a tray filled with seed-starting media. Keep the tray in a warm location (75-80 degrees F) until seeds germinate. When the seedlings are one to two-inches tall, move the tray to a cooler location (60-65 degrees F). Provide adequate light and use a water-soluble, general-purpose fertilizer no more than once per week when seedlings reach two to three inches in height.

Starting Garden Transplants from Seed

It’s not too early to begin gathering seeds for the spring garden. Select seeds from reputable sources to ensure high quality, healthy seeds.

Starting transplants for the vegetable garden typically requires four to eight weeks from seeding to transplant date. Visit the Kansas Garden Guide where you can find the Average Expected Planting Calendar to know when the best start date is for seedlings intended for transplanting into the garden.

Always use a disease-free, soilless planting media or seed-starting mix for seeds. The containers for seed-starting can be individual cups, trays or even recycled containers as long as they have drainage holes in the bottom. Fill the container with a couple inches of media and then lightly cover the seeds with the mix after planting. Keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate and keep the containers under lights in a warm location.

When the seedlings have grown two to four small leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into small pots. This will allow them to continue growing until it’s time to transplant into the garden.

It’s important to give plants time to harden off before transplanting. This should typically be started about ten days before the transplant date and involves gradually acclimating the seedlings to the outdoor conditions by reducing the amount of water the plants receive while slowly increasing their exposure to the outdoor conditions. This prevents the plants from experiencing transplant shock so they can continue normal growth when they are transplanted.

From Aardvarks To Zebras

By

Lee Pitts

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January 7, 2025

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I don’t usually do obituaries but I’d like to make an exception in this case because the deceased is, and was, a childhood hero of mine.

If you know anything at all about horses you’ll recognize the name Dr. Robert Miller who died at 97 years of age on November 16, 2024. (The way deadlines fell this is the soonest I could get the news of his passing to you.) Dr. Miller didn’t die at the peak of his obituary value because he outlived his contemporaries but in my opinion he certainly deserved more mention in the animal press than he seems to have gotten.

I’ve known his name ever since high school because the world renowned large and exotic animal veterinarian founded the Conejo Valley Veterinary Clinic which was the first large animal practice in the region. His animal hospital received the American Veterinary Hospital Association’s Animal Hospital of the Year award in 1969 and was about 30 minutes from where I grew up on the northern edge of southern California.

I don’t know who was a more famous veterinarian, Dr. Miller or Baxter Black, but both left a lasting legacy in the print media, let alone all their other accomplishments. During his 50-year-plus career, Dr. Miller authored 23 books on equine health and behavior, a memoir called “Yes, We Treat Aardvarks” that should be in the library of everyone who loves animals and good clean humor. He contributed to numerous veterinary and equine publications like Western Horseman and also served on the editorial staff of Veterinary Medicine and was the magazine’s long-running “Mind Over Miller” columnist. Working well into his nineties Dr. Miller was a prolific veterinary and cowboy cartoonist and humorist who went by the moniker “RMM.”

With all this exposure you can imagine my shock when he called me up once to find out how I had become a syndicated columnist because he wanted to do the same. I was amazed that this famous writer, who was often referred to as America’s James Herriot, felt he hadn’t already done enough for one lifetime.

But it wasn’t just his writing that Dr. Miller will be remembered for. He was the “father of foal imprinting” and traveled the world revolutionizing the concept of imprint training and early learning as it pertains to newborn foals and for being an early adopter of relationship-based horsemanship, a movement that involves handling, training, and riding equines using humane, scientifically proven, noncoercive methods. As a practitioner and clinician, Dr. Miller visited six continents conducting horsemanship clinics and teaching imprint training, which has been implemented in stables, breeding programs, zoos, wildlife sanctuaries, and game preserves worldwide. He continued to travel, write, and lecture into his nineties.

Even that is not why and how I knew of Dr. Miller. Growing up I frequently read stories in our local newspaper about Dr. Miller saving the life of all kinds of animals from A to Z. From aardvarks to Zebras. Speaking of newspapers, he once did a rumenotomy on a bison to remove a swollen copy of the liberal LA Times. The massive Sunday edition had caused a near fatal impaction of the rumen and I’m sure the bison was very ill after trying to digest the slop printed by the Times.

Dr. Miller had notable clients including Circus Vargas, Jungleland, and Pacific Ocean Park and when Hollywood had a sick animal on their hands it was Dr. Miller they called. He was instrumental in helping advance the practice of veterinary medicine on all manner of domestic and exotic species. Reading about some of those episodes and encounters I think is one reason why I wanted to become a veterinarian as a youngster. When I saw the lions at Jungleland I was amazed that anyone would even consider being in the same cage with them.

Dr. Miller was a brilliant man with great compassion, wide-ranging interests, and insatiable curiosity, who loved and lived life to the fullest up until his passing. He died holding the reins of his favorite mule, Scooter, and is survived by his wife of 68 years, Debby. I’m sure all the animals he saved and the horses he made life better for threw Dr. Miller one great big celebration of his life once he passed through St. Peter’s gate.

Starting Garden Transplants from Seed

By

Guest Columnist

-

January 7, 2025

0

It’s not too early to begin gathering seeds for the spring garden. Select seeds from reputable sources to ensure high quality, healthy seeds.

Starting transplants for the vegetable garden typically requires four to eight weeks from seeding to transplant date. Visit the Kansas Garden Guide where you can find the Average Expected Planting Calendar to know when the best start date is for seedlings intended for transplanting into the garden.

Always use a disease-free, soilless planting media or seed-starting mix for seeds. The containers for seed-starting can be individual cups, trays or even recycled containers as long as they have drainage holes in the bottom. Fill the container with a couple inches of media and then lightly cover the seeds with the mix after planting. Keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate and keep the containers under lights in a warm location.

When the seedlings have grown two to four small leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into small pots. This will allow them to continue growing until it’s time to transplant into the garden.

It’s important to give plants time to harden off before transplanting. This should typically be started about ten days before the transplant date and involves gradually acclimating the seedlings to the outdoor conditions by reducing the amount of water the plants receive while slowly increasing their exposure to the outdoor conditions. This prevents the plants from experiencing transplant shock so they can continue normal growth when they are transplanted.