LITTLE ROCK, Ark — It's that time of year again when we start heating our homes because it's colder— and according to American Red Cross, home fires in our region have increased by about 40%.
Experts said that heating plays a big role in the uptick.
"It's a big deal. So we really want to encourage people to take on practices that will keep them safer," said Lori Arnold with the American Red Cross.
Arnold said that her team responded to 130 home fires from July to September in central and southern Arkansas— and as winter inches closer, they're expecting to see more.
"That's due to people trying to heat their homes and sometimes heating those homes in an unsafe way," Arnold said.
The Little Rock Fire Department has also seen an uptick in house fires during the colder months.
Captain Jason Weaver said that there are several things you can do to prevent a fire.
"The vast majority of ours seem to be space heaters. You have to make sure they're their safety rated where if they fall over, they shut off," Captain Weaver explained. "You have to keep all your materials at least three feet away from it, make sure nothing combustible close up to it," he said.
Captain Weaver also said that cooking fires increase during the winter.
"With the winter holidays, there's a lot more cooking," he said
Additionally, he said there are more carbon monoxide poisonings.
"And fires from the heating systems not being properly tested, maintained," he added.
He recommended getting your system checked every year before extreme temperatures hit.
"Have maintenance come in and make sure it's burning clean," he said.
He also said to install a carbon monoxide detector.
"That way, if something's not burning clean, if something happens to it, at least you're alerted ahead of time and shut it off, evacuate the house, air it out, and then solve the problem before you fire it up again," he explained.
And if anybody doesn't have a smoke alarm, you can get one at no cost.
"They can call Red Cross and we do install free smoke alarms for homes that need them," Arnold said.