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Cold weather wreaks havoc on water lines, local roadways By DELANEY TARR and ALEX POPP delaney@appenmedia.com alex@appenmedia.com
DELANEY TARR/APPEN MEDIA
The Roswell Fire Department displays the wreath with green lights at the Dec. 2 Christmas Tree Lighting at the Heart of Roswell Park. The wreath served as a symbol of fire safety for the holidays.
Roswell Fire officials reflect on ‘Keep the Wreath Green’ By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com ROSWELL, Ga.— As the Roswell Fire Department concludes its “Keep the Wreath Green” initiative, the ornament has been dotted with red due to a few structure fires. Even with the red bulbs, the Roswell Fire officials say they feel positive about the first annual campaign.
The wreath is part of the Fire Department’s attempt to decrease structure fires over the holidays. For every structure fire in December, a green lightbulb was replaced with a red one. The National Fire Protection Agency said Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, followed by Christmas Day and Christmas Eve. As of Dec. 29, the department has
five red bulbs on the wreath. Two of the fires were related to cooking, one fire was from faulty electrical commitment, one was from improper use of heating equipment and one was from a chimney fire. Nationwide, the NFPA reports that between 2015 and 2019, holiday
See WREATH, Page 5
METRO ATLANTA — Georgia’s singledigit lows on Christmas weekend left many residents scrambling to stay warm and protect their plumbing while fire departments and hardware stores were overwhelmed with high demand. In Roswell, the Fire Department received hundreds of calls during the cold snap, nearly five times as many as usual. On Christmas day alone, the department responded to 142 calls. Roswell Fire Public Information Officer Chad Miller said he was shocked to learn many residents didn’t know to turn off their main water line when dealing with possible frozen pipes. He also said some of people’s solutions to the freezing temperatures were even more dangerous. Miller said a structure fire started after a resident tried to heat a frozen pipe outside over a direct flame, accidentally catching their house on fire. He cautioned people against heating frozen pipes with direct flame,
See FREEZE, Page 5