Like it or not, a chill is in the air.

Fall is just around the corner and across the southwest, furnaces are going to be firing up for the first time after a long, hot summer.

When residents are taking care of their furnace filters, it's a good time to take care of the other essentials, and an even better time to put fire safety at the top of their to-do list.

Pete L'Heureux is Deputy Fire Chief with the Swift Current fire department.

"Around my house, fall is kind of that checking up getting things done before winter, time. So for me, carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are kinds of easy pieces of mind. And the fall for me is the time to go and change those batteries that are in each of those units and get them up to speed fresh for the winter so I don't have to think or worry about it."

He added that as smoke detectors reach around the ten-year mark, manufacturers warn that they become less accurate and less likely to respond in the case of an emergency, so heading into the fall it's a good idea to check the dates and replace any that may be reaching that end-of-life.

L'Heureux also recommends changing your furnace filter for a fresh one in the fall, before the heat begins to kick in on a regular basis, and additionally, to use that opportunity to take a look inside your furnace for any potential trouble before the temperatures drop.

"When I've got the cover off, I'm checking the inside, if it looks nice and clean, that the belts are running straight. If, you know, everything kind of looks good in the furnace because there's nothing worse than once the furnace really has to start working in some real cold snaps that your furnace fails or has a problem and then you've got no heat. That's a very bad evening."

Thirdly, L'Heureux talks about something that people don't often consider: storage.

He says that invariably throughout the year, people can begin to store things in their furnace rooms, as well as items getting shuffled around, so that by the time winter rolls in, the furnace itself may find itself crowded and unable to breathe properly; a necessity for efficient operation, with no mention of the obvious fire hazard potential.

The fall is the time to take a deep dive and ensure that things are moved away from the furnace, the water heater and the electrical panel to ensure a safe and secure fall and winter seasons.

And finally, L'Heureux is reminding residents that as they begin their fall yard cleanups, those fire permits do not allow the burning of leaves or grass.

"When we start in the yard cleanup again, we should be bringing them to the proper disposal site. The city has multiple yard waste disposal sites, or we can take yard waste directly to the city landfill to dispose of there and get it mulched or recycled that way."