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Seguin Fire Officials help families stay safe during peak season for house fires

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today



(Seguin) — As we enter the peak season for house fires, the Seguin Fire/EMS Department is doing its part to warn families on keeping safe during these winter months of December and January.

In fact, one of the leading causes of fires each year involves space heaters.

Seguin Fire Marshal Greg Dreiss says space heaters can be dangerous if not used in the home correctly.

“I remind everyone that as they use a portable heater, to make sure there’s at least three feet of space between the heater and anything that is combustible. That includes bedding, clothes, furniture, all those things can be ignited by being too close to a heater. Same thing goes if they are using a fireplace. We want to make sure there’s nothing combustible within the area of the fireplace,” said Dreiss.

Keeping warm overnight by leaving your stove on is also not the best idea. Dreiss says do not use stoves especially gas stoves as ambient heat. He says that is not what they are designed for. He says if they blow out overnight, it can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.

He says that’s why having a carbon monoxide detector is just as important as having a smoke detector.

“It’s also advised that they do have a carbon dioxide detector if they do have gas in the house so that as we are using our heaters, if something fails on it, they do have the warning to get out before the carbon monoxide renders them unconscious,” said Dreiss.

With the arrival of the holiday season, Dreiss says it’s especially important that residents play it safe with their holiday decor.

“With Christmas lighting, we remind everyone to follow the manufacture directions as far as how many strings can be connected together and limited use of extension cords as much as possible because each extension cord increases the chance of the devices overheating,” said Dreiss.

The warnings by the Seguin Fire Department come after fire fighters have stayed quite busy this past month. Dreiss says the peak season for fires just adds on a few more additional ways that fires can get started.

“In the last month, I believe we’ve had three structure fires here in the city. None of those were caused by any of the issues that I’ve mentioned before. However, they are still structure fires and we wanted to try to prevent them as much as possible,” said Dreiss.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the number one cause of home fires at any time of the year is unattended cooking. Officials say make sure that you stay in the room while you are cooking with a heat source. If you cannot stay in the room the whole time, then ask another adult in the family to watch over your food.

To better protect your family, the Seguin Fire/EMS Department reminds residents that if needed, smoke detectors can be installed in their home by simply calling the fire department at 830-401-2310.