The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) data on office property fires taken from 2000 through 2004 fire records indicates that, on average, fire departments responded to 3,810 structure fires involving office properties each year. Seven percent of those reported fires began in the heating equipment area of the office building. If your office practice is located in your home, the NFPA has data collected in 2006, indicating that 64,100 residential structure fires occurred in 2006 as a result of heating equipment-related problems. The following are basic steps that you can take to protect your office practices from the hazards surrounding heating equipment.  Keep all combustible items (anything that can burn) at least three feet from the nearest heating equipment (boilers, furnaces, and space heaters). Note: fireplaces should not be used in office practices. Never store gasoline, propane or other flammable liquids/gases in the same space as your heating equipment. Vapors can travel along the floor and be ignited by heating equipment with disastrous results. Ensure that all heating equipment is vented properly to the outside to avoid potential carbon monoxide poisoning. Simple things like birds nesting in chimneys or faulty flue pipes have resulted in CO poisonings. Avoid storage around flue pipes since heat can be radiated to surfaces surrounding the flue pipe. Provide adequate lighting in and around the heating equipment for maintenance and servicing needs. If installing new heating equipment or a water heater, have the installation performed by a qualified contractor. Have the local fire marshal and/or building code official inspect the work and document the completed installation. On an annual basis, have a qualified heating contractor inspect and maintain your heating equipment and components. Install both carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors in the area surrounding your heating equipment. Test your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors at least monthly. Space heaters can present unique hazards and should only be used in emergency/temporary situations.  If a space heater is going to be used under these circumstances, make sure that it has an Underwriter Laboratory (UL) stamp. Under no circumstances should extension cords be used to power space heaters. Avoid using space heaters in waiting rooms, because of children, and shut-off the space heaters when leaving the room. If you use gas to heat your office practice and you smell gas around your heating equipment, evacuate the office and call the fire department. They will contact the gas company and both will investigate the situation.