How to stay safe while heating your home during the frigid temperatures

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — Temperatures will be dropping into the single digits late this week.

That has emergency responders concerned as the threat of fire is going to rise. FOX13′s Mississippi reporter Tom Dees spoke with Desoto County Emergency Services about home heating and how you can stay safe in those frigid temps.

Desoto County Emergency Services said there are a lot of things to be concerned about when heating your home. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 44 percent of house fires are caused by space heaters.

”Yeah, space heater safety is a big deal when we start having cold weather, ideally you like the space heater to be at least three feet away from anything, especially combustible materials or anything that can catch fire. Any time you are not using the space heater we like people to turn them off when they are not being used,” Deputy Director of DeSoto County Emergency Services Josh Harper said.

Candle safety is another thing to be aware of if the lights go out.

”Candle burning is an issue as cold weather arrives. A lot of times we have a short-term or a long-term power outage and they start burning candles and they go to the store or to work and do errands and they can cause fires as well,” Harper said.

Dealing with these fire dangers is something that extends well beyond December and this cold snap, according to Harper.

”November, December and January, even February we see an influx in structure fires because people get desperate and crank the heat up and they don’t maintain their HVAC Systems,” Harper said.

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