VIDEO: Fire Safety Tips For Homeowners To Keep In Mind

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)-Fire safety is on the minds of many parents after three children died a house fire this weekend in Attala County.

Starkville Fire Chief Charles Yarbrough said it’s not uncommon to see an increase in fires around this time of year.

“We’ve been pretty busy, a lot busier than normal this time of year,” said Chief Yarbrough, Starkville Fire Department.

In fact, Yarbrough said his department has put out five different house fires, including one in Starkville this past weekend.

“One being an electrical and one was just the heater so it’s just several different things that causes them but it definitely has been an increase,” said Chief Yarbrough.

One of the main reasons behind the increase in house fires is because of the cold weather that’s starting to sit in.

As a result, that leads to homeowners cutting on heating systems that have been turned off for several months.

“This time of year when we start cranking up heating systems that have been off for months, we bring out the portable heaters and a number of things of that nature, and the probability of a bad thing happening is even greater,” said Kirk Rosenhan, fire coordinator for Oktibbeha County.

So, to help reduce these house fires from occuring…here are a few safety tips from both Chief Yarbrough and Rosenhan:

“We really would like for everybody to have a smoke detector,” said Rosenhan.

“At least one but we’re suggesting that you have one in each room if possible, and then one not in the kitchen but one outside of the kitchen,” Chief Yarbrough explained.

“We want people to be careful with any sort of heat producing or electrical appliance, that’s the first thing,” said Rosenhan. “The second thing is to have a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector in case something does go wrong.”

“And then it only that, have a fire escape plan for our kids,” said Chief Yarbrough. “If something happens do your kids know where to go? If you come outside are they going to come back in looking for you, are you going to go back in looking for them. Also, clean out your heaters inside your home before cutting them on if you’ve went months without using it.  Then, if you ever have a fire, once you get out don’t ever go back in. Let us come do our job and do what we need to do, because if you go back in, odds are, you’re not coming back out.”

Chief Yarbrough said the Starkville Fire Department goes out to schools in the community, and also allows students to come by the fire department to teach them about fire safety and how to implement a fire escape plan.

However, the fire chief said it ultimately comes down to the parents practicing the escape plan with their children to make sure everyone knows what to do and where to go in case a fire ever happens.