Before

After

Simple tips to avoid a water heater fire

Remove paper, dust or other combustibles from the heater enclosure.

Extinguish the pilot light before using flammable liquids or setting off aerosol bug bombs.

If the device is in the garage, raise it so the pilot light is 18 inches above the floor. This helps prevent ignition of gasoline vapors that collect near the floor.

Consider installing an automatic gas-shutoff valve to stop the flow of gas if the ground moves or if gas flow increases dramatically. The valve prevents fires when a gas line breaks due to flood, earthquake or other disaster.

You may want to insulate the first six feet of the hot water pipe and the first three feet of the cold water pipe that extends from your hot water tank. Insulation reduces heat loss on the hot water pipe and "sweating” on the cold water pipe.

Do not use pipe wrap or any other insulation within six inches of the draft hood or flue exhaust vent at the top of the natural gas water heater.