With temperatures dropping and the holiday season underway, fire officials are asking residents to be cautious as they try to keep warm this winter.
At least one fire during the weekend, which claimed the life of a Lowndes County man, was started by a space heater.
Similar incidents become more frequent as the weather gets colder, Columbus Fire and Rescue Chief Duane Hughes said.
“As the cold weather arrives, we often respond to fires caused by what we call alternate means of heating,” Hughes told The Dispatch. “These are heat sources not commonly integrated into the house, such as space heaters and the use of ovens or stoves, such as kerosene heaters, butane heaters and things of that nature.”
The biggest mistake people make when using a space heater, Hughes said, is not maintaining clearance between the heater and whatever is around it. Placing the heater in frequently traveled areas where it’s more likely to be knocked over is another recipe for disaster, he said.
“If you’re going to use a space heater, keep in mind they’re only designed to heat one room, so don’t attempt to heat your house with a space heater,” he said. “… You want to make sure they are plugged directly into a wall outlet and not into a surge protector or any other extension cord.”
Charles Yarbrough, chief for Starkville Fire Department, said space heaters typically account for 10 to 15% of their fires during winter months. While cooking and smoking remain the largest risk factors, he advised residents to keep at least five feet of clearance near space heaters in their homes.
“We’re definitely keeping our eye on it, and we definitely advise the public to be careful with space heaters,” he said. “We haven’t had the heater uptick yet, but the weather’s going to change next week, so we’re definitely expecting over the next couple weeks for something to take place.”
Cooking for Thanksgiving was a bigger concern to Yarbrough. While Starkville didn’t have any issues related to turkey frying last year, he said anyone not very familiar with the process should steer clear of experimental cooking techniques.
“The big thing is you have to be very careful when you’re doing it,” he said. “We see people frying them too close to the house, and if that turkey catches because you drop it in too quickly or you drop it in wet, it’s going to spark an entire fire.”
Even away from their house and any awnings or obstructions, home cooks still run the risk of bodily injury.
“It’s just taking too much of a chance, not only with your house,” Yarbrough said. “That’s my fear, that you have somebody out there cooking without knowing what they’re doing, you make a mistake and next thing you know you’re in the burn center. Leave it to the professionals, or use one of those oil-less fryers. They’re a lot safer.”
Lowndes County Fire Coordinator Neal Austin said it seems folks have heard warnings about deep frying turkeys with fewer calls coming through each year. Most of the fires the county responded to last winter were caused by heat lamps, he said.
“We had a rash of heat lamp structure fires, where people put a heat lamp for an animal outside, maybe in a dog house or something, and the animal will knock it off, catch the bedding on fire and we wind up with a house fire,” Austin told The Dispatch.
Heat lamps should be properly secured away from any flammable materials, he said.
Carbon monoxide is another big safety concern when the weather turns cold, Hughes said. Any heat source that burns hydrocarbons – like gas furnaces, propane fireplaces and kerosene heaters – creates carbon monoxide.
The easiest way to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, he said, is to make sure detectors are all in shape.
“On those furnaces and appliances that have one internally installed, they need to be inspected annually,” Hughes said. “If you don’t have one that’s internally installed and you purchase one, you need to make sure you test it once a month to make sure it’s working.”
Yarbrough encouraged Starkville residents without smoke detectors to call the department.
“If you do not have a smoke detector and you are a citizen of Starkville, call us,” he said. “We will install one for you.”
Columbus Fire and Rescue also has a smoke detector installation program for city residents.
In any situation, Hughes said, information is the best guard against an avoidable fire. If there are any doubts, just call 911, he said.
“There’s no cost, no harm, no foul for the fire department to come out and review your situation, offer you advice or mediate a situation,” Hughes said. “We’d rather be called on the front end when we can do something as opposed to the other end when we’re limited as to what we can do.”
Oktibbeha County Fire Services Coordinator Patrick Warner did not return calls or messages from The Dispatch by press time.
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