JOLIET (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Fire officials in Joliet are advising people not to use fire to thaw frozen pipes, following a small fire that broke out in Joliet Wednesday.
Fire crews were on the scene of a residence near Douglas and Nicholson after officials said the homeowner tried to use a blowtorch on frozen pipes.
"He had a 20 pound propane tank and was using that to thaw out the pipes. [It] started to get away from him, set the floor joints on fire,” said Joliet Fire Battalion Chief Jim Batusich.
He said crews quickly arrived and were able to contain the fire in about 20 minutes.
Batusich said, while the blow torch is one of the newer techniques the fire department has seen fires during the winter are pretty common.
"Any time we have cold weather like this, we usually have more fires. I know we've had three in the last few days, and space heaters, people are plugging in space heaters to the outlets,” Batusich added.
For those who are dealing with frozen pipes, Batusich said ditch the blow torch and any open flame for that matter, and, instead wrap the pipes with heat tape or simply leave the faucet open and let the water drip.
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