Winter safety: Prevent frozen pipes, furnace trouble, power outages, house fires

Big news in the US is snow and record low temperature. If there's one thing West Michigan knows, it's cold, snow and ice. And the northern upper peninsular and west Michigan area gets a special kind of precipitation called "lake effect" snow. Lake effect translates to "monster truck loads full, heaped everywhere, buried under" snow. It's so iconic that there's a beer named after it! So all that snow is pretty and good for skiers, but it also causes a plethora of winter safety hazards. Here are winter safety tips to prevent house fires, power outages, frozen pipes, furnace trouble.   Winter safety: Prevent frozen pipes, furnace trouble, power outages, house fires | Examiner.com