Beware Heat Lamp Fire Hazards While Raising Birds

LIVINGSTON COUNTY – Spring has sprung and it’s time to raise chicks and ducklings, but fire experts caution homeowners of fire risks from heat lamps commonly used to keep baby birds warm at night.

The birds are relatively easy to raise and a fun way for young kids to share the responsibility of raising animals. However, as has been seen in past years, some setups for raising the fuzzy friends can be risky, or outright dangerous.

“You have to understand how much radiant heat comes out of those lamps,” said Livingston County Emergency Management Director Kevin Niedermaier. “The lamp isn’t in direct contact with anything but over time it can heat, and heat, and heat dry material until it catches fire. There are unfortunately many cases where structures are lost to fires that were started by heat lamps.”

Niedermaier said that there are wrong ways to set up a heat lamp. For example, it is never advisable to ‘daisy-chain’ extension cords, connecting several short cords to reach a distant structure.

“Never, ever daisy-chain extension cords,” said Niedermaier. “We’ve seen cases where several small cords are daisy-chained to reach a garage or shed, and the property owners wind up losing those structures and the chicks to fires. You need the right length cord for the job.”

That said, a heat lamp setup could be safe but become a hazard later.

“Many folks do know that the lamp should be 18 inches from dry bedding so that it doesn’t heat up to the point of causing a fire,” said Niedermaier. “But if they add a little bedding each day without removing old bedding, it piles up closer and closer to that hot lamp. It’s important to keep grooming away old bedding to maintain that safe distance from the bulb.”

In spring 2016, at least two barns burned as a result of heat lamps. On April 21, a barn and 36 chicks on Turkey Hill Road in Conesus burned due to a heat lamp. On May 9, a barn in York burned due to daisy-chained extension cords.