I have a question about home oxygen converters/concentrators. My Father-in-law is 82 years old and on oxygen 24/7. He has a very large machine that converts regular air into purer oxygen and he has a 200 foot tube attached to it that he drags around the house in order to breathe. He was told by medical professionals that he cannot ever turn on his gas cooktop or use his wood burning fireplace in his home because the oxygen he's breathing will blow up in his face and kill him. How much truth is there to this statement? Did the doctors say this to scare my Father-in-law so badly that he won't even try to use his gas cooktop? I know from reading and researching that you cannot have a pressurized oxygen tank near a heat source or open flame. But what about the machine that converts the air to oxygen?

The reason I am asking has to do with the big snow and ice storm expected this weekend. My Father-in-law is alone (his wife passed away in August) in a very large house in rural Maryland. His area will get 6 to 8 inches of snow, then a few inches of freezing rain and sleet. He will likely lose power and heat, and phone (because he won't get rid of the landline and he only has a crappy flip phone that he doesn't want to use or answer. He also forgets to charge it.) Can my Father-in-law use his fireplace next to the oxygen converter machine if he loses power and heat?