News 13's Jana Barnello has safety tips for you and your family. We've talked a lot about the fire in Orrington that killed four people including 3 children, but on that same day a couple living in this home in Augusta was also injured because of improper use of a wood stove, and now firefighters want you to listen up. Yes gasoline, and firefighters say a YouTube video shows exactly what you shouldn't do to light a wood stove. This is what investigators say a couple in Augusta did over the weekend.
And in Orrington, another wood stove accident which killed a father, Ben Johnson, and his three kids. Investigators say pizza boxes left too close to a wood stove sparked the fire. State fire marshal Joe Thomas says there were no working smoke detectors in the home.
Thomas says to keep three feet of space clear surrounding your wood stove. The only way to light it, should be with kindling or paper. And as they've advocated for years, make sure your smoke detectors are working.
And as a rule of thumb so something like this, doesn't happen to you firefighters say listen to your instincts and always err on the side of caution. Brookings-Smith Funeral Home in Bangor is handling the services for Ben Johnson and his three children. The arrangements have not been finalized. As for 38-year-old Michael O'Leary, the man injured in the Augusta wood stove fire, he remains in critical condition.
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