Firefighters Urge Caution When Heating Homes During Winter

With temperatures dropping across Green Country, the fire department has a warning for people finding different ways to stay warm.

Firefighters said the number of house fires usually increases in December, January, and February.

"I don't know exactly how it started. I think it was the space heater, so I do recommend being very cautious with space heaters," Wilson said.

Kayleigh Wilson and her husband learned the hard way how dangerous space heaters can be, when their Turley home caught fire in 2019.

This is the time of year many people are looking for alternative ways to stay warm, and firefighters said that can put lives at risk.

"Some of the dangers of that and what we see most of is people using the electric space heaters. The dangers of the electric space heaters are they draw a lot of power," Ingram said.

Lieutenant Tim Ingram said people should avoid plugging space heaters into an extension cord and the best way to prevent overheating is to plug directly into the wall socket.

People should also not use anything indoors that uses fuel, like a generator, because of the carbon monoxide.

"That's the same thing with people turning on their stovetops or opening their ovens for an extended period of time, that’s not what those devices are meant for and the problem that you have is that they're not properly vented,” Ingram said.

A lot of people use their fireplaces to spread some warmth during the winter months, but make sure you clean it first.

"If you haven't had your fireplace or chimney checked out in a while, get a chimneysweep to come over and check it out and make sure there are no problems in the flue that can start a fire, because those can happen quickly as well and can burn the top of a home off," Ingram said.

Always remember to frequently check smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they work properly.