From fire safety to fencing, home show vendors show off their wares

The 43rd Annual Home Show, hosted by the Kenai Peninsula Builders Association, was held this weekend at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex, with an offering of vendors that went beyond just home building, remodeling and decorating.

Ahead of the event, event coordinator Lara McGinnis said they’d gathered 100 experts for the show, across a wide range of disciplines — which could be seen as the show filled the lobby, the hockey rink and even the upper floor above the bleachers.

Stacey Rawls, office manager for Fireweed Fence, said the business has participated in the home show for a decade or more, always in their “great corner spot.” They showed off a variety of fences and gates.

The standard wood and chain-link fencing remain the most popular options, she said, but they’d had several people start paperwork with the intent to hire. Rawls said that some people had told her they’d come looking for their fences specifically.

Only a few booths away, Central Emergency Services and the Soldotna Professional Firefighters hosted a booth warning of the dangers of chimney fires.

Chuck Roney, fire marshal at CES, said creosote is a byproduct of incomplete burning that can build up and “laminate” the inside of chimneys. That material can then burn at “amazing temperatures.”

At the home show, Roney said, CES was looking to raise awareness of the issue and educate about preventative measures. There are creosote logs that can be burned every few months to combat that buildup, chimney brushes that can be checked out from the CES station, and emergency response tools like a fire extinguishing log. The extinguisher, he said, can be thrown in, package and all, to shut down the fire.

“We’ve had three fires in the last two years in which residents had extinguished their own chimney fires with them,” he said.

All of those materials, he said, are available at local stores including Trustworthy Hardware and Spenard Builders Supply.

On the other side of the show, Leo Orjuela, of HiDow, was selling massage guns. He said he fit into the construction-themed show because “everyone’s human. Everyone’s got pain.” He was showing off a variety of products to address that pain.

Offering free massage trials, Orjuela said, does a lot to bring people over to the booth.

For more information about the Home Show or the Kenai Peninsula Builders Association, visit facebook.com/KenaiPeninsulaBuilders.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.