Chilly weather means more people are using their fireplaces and as they do, Tallahassee Fire Department Engineer Sarah Cooksey is warning residents to keep safety in mind.
“The biggest thing is keeping your mantels clear. You don’t want to have a bunch of stuff sitting on the mantel—especially things that are more flammable—you know cloth or textile type items. During the holiday season especially, people put decorations and things like that on their mantel so you want to keep your decorations and pretty much anything that can burn away from your fireplaces or any other heating source in your home,” Cooksey says.
Cooksey also says residents should have their fireplaces inspected and cleaned each year. Since the start of the holiday season, Cooksey says local firefighters have responded to seven residential fires—the latest was caused by embers falling through a crack in a fireplace.
