Gas Fireplaces Too Hot for Tots
Gathering around the warm glow of a fireplace provides comfort for many Canadian families over the winter months. Use of gas fireplaces is becoming a popular alternative to traditional wood-burning fireplaces, especially in newer homes. They are simple to use, provide an instant fire at the turn of a switch, and produce heat to warm a home. But gas fireplaces get hot quickly and hot temperatures burn children fast.
Every year children are burned from contact with the glass barrier at the front of a gas fireplace. Statistics show that contact burns, injuries sustained when a part of the body touches a hot object, are the second leading cause of burns in children.
In the case of gas fireplaces, children usually burn their hands and fingers on the glass and metal parts of the door. When hands are burned patients often require repeat medical visits, rehabilitation, and can even suffer a loss of hand function.
Young children under five years of age, and especially those under two years, are at an increased risk. Young children are busy exploring and are often unsteady on their feet. Children have been burned when they have fallen towards the gas fireplace and have pushed up against the hot glass for balance. Serious third-degree burns are the result. Others have touched the glass only for a moment out of curiosity. It takes just two seconds to be seriously burned. Many children have been burned while parents are in the room.
Children are not only at risk for burns when the gas fireplace is in use but before and after use too. The glass barrier can heat up to more than 200°C in about six minutes during use. It takes an average of 45 minutes for the fireplace to cool to a safe temperature after a burning fire has been extinguished. Some children have even been burned when the fireplace is not in use, by the heat from the ignition light. Children are at risk of a burn injury whenever they are around a gas fireplace.
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To keep your child safe around gas fireplaces, Safe Kids Canada recommends the following:
- Never leave a young child alone near a gas fireplace; they can be burned before, during, and after use of the fireplace.
- Create a barrier around the gas fireplace. Safety guards can be installed to keep your child at a safe distance at all times. Safety gates can keep your child from being in the room alone.
- Teach children about the dangers of fire. Children are fascinated by heat and fire and may not understand the dangers.
- Consider not using the fireplace if you have young children less than five years of age, using it only after your children have gone to sleep, or consider turning the unit off completely, including the ignition flame, whenever the unit is not in use.
- Be aware of contact burn dangers from irons, curling irons, radiators, older oven doors, wood-burning stoves, and fireplaces.
| Page published on 2006-09-05 |
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