COLORADO SPRINGS — Emergency officials are urging everyone to take action now to prepare for the intense cold. Colorado Springs Utilities and first responders are working together to make sure people stay safe during some of the coldest days so far this year.
The COO of Colorado Springs Utilities, Somer Mese, said there are many ways you can prepare your home as temperatures begin to drop. One of them is as simple as turning on your faucet and letting water drip out of it slowly so your pipes don't freeze.
Mese said it can sometimes take a week for your frozen pipes to thaw. She said if they do, you need to call a plumber. Mese also recommends opening cabinet doors to allow heat to flow through them.
“Manage your thermostat you wanna to set that we recommend 68° and everybody likes a toasty 72. Reality is if you don’t change that, your furnace is going to work harder and it’s gonna actually cost more chance can use more gas it’s less efficient turn it down a little bit be prepared,” Mese said.
It is also important for people to check their furnace.
“Changing your furnace filter is a huge thing that you can do to improve the efficiency of your furnace. Those need to be changed monthly if you can,” Mese said.
She said utilities are prepared for more people heating their homes this weekend.
“We routinely buy gas throughout the year and put that into storage underground so we are prepared for these kinds of events so we can mitigate some of the high price fluctuations we are currently seeing,” Mese said.
Mese said it's important to heat your house properly.
“We also want to make sure everybody is safe and warm but to do that safely and don't use your oven barbecue grill. Those types of things carbon monoxide is an issue with those so make sure using authorized heaters and space heaters,” Mese said.
The Office of Emergency Management said these cold temperatures are life threatening if not taken seriously. Olav Chaney with the Colorado Springs Police homeless outreach team, said his team is trying to get people experiencing homelessness off the streets and into shelters.
"Our focus is not enforcement as much as it is let's see what we can do to try to convince folks to get out of that weather and get them into the shelter to get warm because it is going to get ugly,” Chaney said.
Chaney said they will continue to do wellness checks through Monday.
"The hardest part is trying to reach these people who don't want to help and want to stay out there. Trying to conscience them is very difficult at times and those are the ones we want to get back to,” Chaney said.
He does not anticipate the shelter being full. Steve Johnson is the Administrator Community Public Health for the Colorado Springs Fire Department. He said CSFD is working with churches in Colorado Springs to open more warming shelters.
"The two main shelters that we are working with the Springs Rescue Mission of course, were able to take quite a large number of individuals and are prepared to take even more so I need to and then we are working with Hope COS who have pop-up shelters with churches that they work with,” Johnson said.
He said Springs Rescue Mission can take around 500, and the other warming shelters through the church can sleep nearly 300 people.
"Then we got a number for partners to step up to help us with transportation from wherever they're at. They call for assistance to be able to pick them up and take them to the appropriate shelter for them,” Johnson said.
CSFD said it can be dangerous if you are exposed to the cold for too long. They say it takes only 30 minutes for frostbite to set in.
“Some of those things that we’re seeing you know dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, if you can’t feel your extremities, those are good signs to call,” Johnson said.
They said in an emergency call 911 or for assistance with utilities, food and warning shelters call 211.
As temperatures continue to drop for the next few days, it's important to take precautions now to prepare your plumbing and heating ahead of time to avoid damage.
Service experts recommend changing the filters on your furnace if it's been more than three months to prevent short cycling. Placing covers over outdoor hose bibs will also help to prevent freezing pipes.
Homes with a crawlspace can trap cold air, which effects water pipes so, make sure that they are well insulated to protect those pipes from bursting.
"Most of the time when your equipment is gonna break down is when they're extreme temperatures," said Marc Kennedy, a Technician with Wirenut Home Services. "Either negative degrees in Colorado or, you know, 110 degree days with the air conditioners."
Technicians with Wirenut Home Services also recommend having space heaters in the event your home furnace should break down, but make sure they are operating safely.
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