Groan. I just spent the better part of the weekend — and big chunk of my Christmas fun-money — wrestling with a malfunctioning furnace.<\/p>\n
The heroic heating-plumbing guy who showed up at 9pm on a Saturday night and battled the problem until 3am kept the disgust out of his voice as best he could.<\/p>\n
But let’s face it. I’m a dope. We bought this furnace two years ago and haven’t had it cleaned or serviced since.<\/p>\n
After watching a plume of flame and smoke billow out, I’m a convert.<\/p>\n
And I was lucky. The newspapers are full this time of year with stories about houses and lives going up in smoke. This from today’s Glens Falls Post-Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n The house fire is the fifth in the area this month.<\/p>\n On Dec. 17, a woodstove fire destroyed a three-story apartment in Corinth. On Dec. 12, a family of eight was displaced from their Argyle home after an electrical fire.<\/p>\n On Dec. 10, a Queensbury home was damaged after a fire broke out near a woodstove, displacing a family of six. And on Dec. 6, a Greenwich family of four lost their home and their puppy to a fire.<\/p>\n Tyler said old Christmas lights on broken wires, dried out Christmas trees, space heaters and overloaded outlets are all common fire hazards.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n